He won’t thank anyone for reminding him, but when Omar Khairat first joined the Cairo Conservatoire to study piano in 1959, Dubai had just built its first international airport, serving the 90,000 people – in total – who lived in the UAE. A lot has changed since then – both for Khairat and Dubai. But as one of the Middle East’s most popular composers returns for his third performance tonight, they seem made for each other.
“You know, it’s a good place for me to play, as it’s often said my music crosses cultural boundaries and Dubai is certainly a melting pot of a place where that now happens,” says the 65-year-old. “The structure of my compositions is of my own making – a mixture between western, oriental, jazz and, of course, Arabic sounds. But I’ve come to think that’s how people listen to music, through the internet and iTunes. What is a great thrill is that they also like to hear it live.”
Tonight, Khairat will bring his 16-strong band to Emirates Golf Club to play a selection of favourites from across the decades. Although he began as a straight pianist, Khairat’s compositions for television (most notably The Bangles), and more than 50 films, won him awards and acclaim. And it all began in the early 1980s with The Night of Fatma’s Arrest (1984), one of the Egyptian director Henry Barakat’s last films.
“That was an important moment in my career,” admits Khairat. “But to be honest, it feels like I’ve had plenty of them, right back to being one of the first students in the Cairo Conservatoire, which was founded by my uncle Abu Bakr Khairat. When I look at it now, studying composing when I was growing up was important, but then so was getting involved with pop music and jazz and playing drums in Les Petits Chats.”
There weren’t too many Egyptian bands at that time but it was the 1960s and Khairat tapped into the boundless sense of possibility of the era: he didn’t actually know how to play the drums and never had a lesson.
“Les Petits Chats was fun and serious at the same time,” he recalls. “We used to do international pop songs and we did them with real love. It took me around five years to master the drums, actually, and I loved it because rhythm is very important to music. Knowing the drums helped me a lot later as a composer – and not just rhythmically. Being in a band where harmony and melody were key was a great influence.”
And from that moment forward, Khairat rarely concerned himself with one genre. He says the difference between a composition for film or television and a more academic piece for a symphony orchestra is only in the amount of exposure it might receive. “I guess the fact that you know a work will be played a lot does affect what you write,” he says. “And when you play it live, it’s great that people already know the tunes – and thank God they like them.”
In fact, Khairat still rearranges his well-known soundtracks when he plays them live, just because he worries that a score for a film might be a bit difficult to follow without the images. It all lends the impression of a musician still keen to please, still hopeful that his goal – “to marry eastern and western music” – can be achieved.
“It’s hard to say which piece is my favourite, but I know people like The Bangles very much,” he says. It’s a telling observation: The Bangles is certainly the recording where the western harmonies are most obvious within a sound that is still notably Arabic.
Khairat is one of those rare musicians to have a signature style without ever lapsing into repetition. So how does he describe it?
“Well, it’s important for the music to be emotional. Arabs are sentimental people. They like rhythms. After that, maybe, the tune, orchestration and harmony is different each time, but it comes from me and I think people notice that. Where I’ve lived is reflected in my music, and my country is where my passions come from.”
So, would Khairat, who is currently based in Cairo, ever compose something reflecting on the political situation in Egypt?
“Actually, I am preparing something along those lines with another artist, but it’s still early days,” he reveals.
“How do I feel about Egypt? I feel all right. The coming days will be much better. You know, it’s only six months since we had another revolution, we’ve now got two presidents in jail and house arrest. It’s amazing, really. But I feel that we have some more honesty now.”
Aside from the composition on Egypt, Khairat plans to continue his incredible output – working on more soundtracks in between his live commitments.
“I just love to play everything,” he says, laughing. “I have also written overtures, ballets, I have composed for big symphonic orchestras. In the end, it’s all music, but of course, you can’t do it all.”
• Omar Khairat plays at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai tonight. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets cost from Dh200 and are available at www.timeouttickets.com and Virgin Megastores
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Abu Dhabi racecard
5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
5.30pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,00; 1,400m.
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company%20Profile
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
FIGHT%20CARD
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The%20Afghan%20connection
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All%20The%20Light%20We%20Cannot%20See%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
