"Everything is political," says 26-year-old composer Mohammed Fairouz in his gentle, slow voice. "And for an artist with an Arabic background you're just that much more politicised. Everything we do is controversial, we just can't avoid it."
While radical political discourses are uncommon in classical music, Fairouz's first opera, Sumeida's Song, which premiered in January at the Prototype new opera festival in New York, tackles a provocative subject: the revolts that have shaken Egypt since the beginning of the Arab Spring.
Based on Egyptian writer Tawfiq al Hakim's play, Song of Death, the opera reasserts a promise that the play's actor Alwan made when he was expected to carry out a murder as revenge in a blood feud: I will not kill.
"The responses to this statement have been extremely violent everywhere," says Fairouz, referring to various reactions to calls to pacifism throughout history. "This opera could take place anywhere."
To convey the universality of this clash between violence and peace, Fairouz avoided making clear references in the opera, instead weaving western classical music to the structure of maqam (the melodic conventions commonly found in Arabic music) without overly Orientalising the melody.
"I wasn't going to have a belly dancer," half-jokes the composer, who knew Edward Said and was deeply influenced by the intellectual's writings on Orientalism. "It's an expectation that people have that we have to state our identity clearly and live up to others' misinformed idea of what our identity is," he continues, referring to Said's groundbreaking writings about the distorted depictions of the Orient in the West.
Fairouz believes that as an Arab-American artist, his duty is to pose vital questions about politics and identity. "The world is becoming a very small place and we're all colliding with one another almost constantly," he says.
"We can either learn more about one another, take the opportunity to grow and become a more diverse species or we can rip each other apart. It's important to cross those divides so that we get to know one another and get to live harmoniously. I believe that artists everywhere need to be a voice of their society and for freedom of expression, a voice that is critical asking for society to be better."
For his political engagement, seriousness of purpose and innovative melding of the Eastern and western classical traditions, Fairouz has been hailed as one of the leading composers of his generation. He has been described as "an expert in vocal writing" by The New Yorker, a "post-millennial Schubert" by Gramophone, "an important new artistic voice" by The New York Times and "one of the most talented composers of his generation" by BBC World News.
The young and prolific artist has created more than 40 genre-spanning compositions - from symphonies to opera, chamber music to electronic music. His repertoire has been widely performed at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall and the Kennedy Center. He has won numerous awards including the Tourjée Alumni Award from the New England Conservatory, the Malcolm Morse Memorial Award, and the NEC Honors award. In 2008, he was honoured with a national citation from the embassy of the UAE in Washington for outstanding achievement in artistry and scholarship. Fairouz is often invited to host lectures and workshops at universities and conservatories.
His obsession with sound began during his childhood, when Fairouz played the piano, read poetry and listened to Umm Kulthum, Fairuz, Mozart and Beethoven. Born in New York, he moved to London at an early age with his father, a Palestinian doctor who had studied in Egypt and lived across the Middle East, where he worked for the World Health Organisation. At age seven Fairouz read an Oscar Wilde poem and used it as inspiration for a piece. At each lesson, he played his compositions instead of the homework he had been assigned, much to his teacher's dismay. Throughout his youth Fairouz continued to read voraciously, learning about the authors and poets of the Middle East and familiarising himself with philosophy and theory.
As a teenager he moved back to New York and attended the New England Conservatory and the Curtis Institute, studying with luminaries such as György Ligeti and Richard Danielpour. His mentor was pioneer composer Gunther Schuller, the creator of the "Third Stream", which bridged the gap - musically and socially - between jazz and classical music. Fairouz was very inspired by this radical approach and, encouraged by Said, crafted his own distinctive voice, subtly integrating Arabic rhythms and instruments into classical compositions. His music truly defies rigid notions of identity and genre and breaks the artistic and sociocultural boundaries defined by tradition. It reflects the contemporary world in all its complexity and grittiness.
"I really don't believe that the music of the dead white European men is very important to me," says Fairouz. "It's not really a vital part of who I am as much as, for example, the cities of New York or London where you hear all sorts of music from all sorts of walks of life, in the subway, in a taxi, in the street. In my music you will hear the sounds of modern realities, of people existing today. Brown, white, Jewish, male, female, gay, straight, male, female, whatever - it doesn't matter anymore. It's what's exciting about today's cosmopolitanism and what's so scary to so many people - but we can overcome this fear through music."
In Fairouz's striking Third Symphony, written for a large orchestra, a mezzo-soprano and a baritone, he brings together prayers with poetry, creating a narrative of shared loss, hope and reconciliation. Another piece inspired by Mahmoud Darwish is the beautiful Tahwida (Lullaby), based on the Palestinian poet's epic poem A State of Siege and written for a soprano and violin. Refugee Blues is a melancholy melody based on the poem of that name by WH Auden, written in 1939.
Say this city has ten million souls,
Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:
Yet there's no place for us, my dear, yet there's no place for us
Auden's lament seems to embody the paradox of contemporary life; isolation or freedom? Exile or exploration? Speaking directly to this tension, Fairouz transforms his own position as an outsider into a potent creative tool, calling for positive change with orchestrated words and sounds.
Shirine Saad is a New York-based editor and writer.
thereview@thenational.ae
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
South Africa's T20 squad
Duminy (c), Behardien, Dala, De Villiers, Hendricks, Jonker, Klaasen (wkt), Miller, Morris, Paterson, Phangiso, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Smuts.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
MORE ON IRAN'S PROXY WARS
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
