Day in the Life: Powerhouse conductor leads Dubai’s first all-female orchestra


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“A Day in the Life” allows you to step into the shoes of a UAE resident to experience a typical 24 hours in their work and home life.

Few people can make a living out of being bossy, but for Monica Woodman, it’s been instrumental to her success.

As the conductor of Dubai’s all-female Firdaus Orchestra, Ms Woodman, 35, originally from Cuba, leads a 54-strong band of musicians in interpreting the work of famous composers.

The multilingual, multinational ensemble mentored by A R Rahman, India’s Oscar-winning composer, made its debut during Expo 2020 Dubai and has been steadily building a fan base in the region.

So far in her role, Ms Woodman has worked alongside some of the world's biggest celebrities, including Beyonce and Christina Aguilera, in her aim to make classical music accessible to everyone.

Here, The National goes behind the scenes with Ms Woodman as she shares her daily routine and speaks on the highlights of her career so far.

Monica Woodman conducts the all-female Firdaus Orchestra in a rehearsal with Solange Meridian, an American-Argentinian opera singer. Photo: Firdaus Orchestra
Monica Woodman conducts the all-female Firdaus Orchestra in a rehearsal with Solange Meridian, an American-Argentinian opera singer. Photo: Firdaus Orchestra

7.30am: Practice makes pitch perfect

Music has dominated Ms Woodman’s life since childhood and, after an early morning gym and meditation session, she goes through the orchestra’s scores and prepares for the day ahead.

“I started playing piano when I was seven years old and when I was 14. I saw someone in my school conducting a choir,” she says.

“I have always been a little bit bossy and I like to tell people what to do, so that resonated a lot with my personality. It just clicked that this was what I wanted.”

After switching her studies to choral conducting, Ms Woodman went on to achieve a master’s degree in symphonic orchestra conducting and flourished under the mentorship of esteemed composer Guido Lopez-Gavilan.

“There are very few platforms and orchestras that give a chance to young conductors,” she says.

“The stereotypical image is a German male with grey hair, so I had to prove myself three times more than any other person.

“Today I go through scores and make them unique to me. My experiences allow me to share what I believe is a true interpretation of a piece, which is very rewarding.”

1pm: Piano and life lessons

When she isn’t practising with the Firdaus Orchestra, Ms Woodman teaches piano and vocal technique to budding musicians in the Emirates.

As well as teaching, she uses her experiences as a young woman to show how music can shatter stereotypes.

“We are changing the narrative around women in the Middle East,” says Ms Woodman.

“It’s only about the quality of music, we have a bigger and more profound message underneath that’s very close to my heart as a female conductor.

“It's a male-dominated industry. So having all these women from Latin America, the GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] and Europe all coming together for one purpose shows that art can change humanity.”

The Firdaus Orchestra played with Beyonce in January at the opening of Atlantis The Royal. Getty Images
The Firdaus Orchestra played with Beyonce in January at the opening of Atlantis The Royal. Getty Images

2pm: Queen B and Disney Magic

At least four hours of every day is dedicated to practising in the Expo City studio, gearing up for performances with musical royalty.

“We played with Beyonce in January at the opening of Atlantis The Royal, which was unreal,” says Ms Woodman.

“It shows the power of music, the power of women and the power of Firdaus because we are a very young orchestra and we’re accomplishing amazing things.

“We performed at the Coca-Cola Arena with the Disney princess concert. To bring 54 ladies together in one musical moment like that is incredible.”

Ms Woodman credits Expo 2020 and its legacy with bringing together so many talented musicians from around the world, with 26 nationalities represented in the Firdaus Orchestra.

“We will never be able to pay back what Expo does for us,” she says. “We owe so much to Her Excellency Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy who made this dream possible.

“Expo is now our home. This is the place we come every day to make music and create magic and show the world that you can be a professional musician in Dubai as a female, no matter what part of the world you are from.”

6pm: Turning classical music on its head

Most of Ms Woodman’s evenings are spent recording with the orchestra and, when pressure is high, she likes to view the world from another perspective.

“I'm very Cuban, so I do sometimes crazy things,” she says. “When I'm conducting for long hours, I like to decompress my lumbar spine with a headstand, regardless of who is in the studio.

"Last week, Grammy award winning flutist, Wouter Kellerman, was recording with us and I did my headstand during rehearsal, which got him very excited.

“For me, it’s just part of the creativity of being an artist.”

War and the virus
Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile

Started: 2016

Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel 

Based: Ramallah, Palestine

Sector: Technology, Security

# of staff: 13

Investment: $745,000

Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE

Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:

• Buy second hand stuff

 They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.

• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres

 Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.

• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.

Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.

• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home

Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.

The five pillars of Islam
CREW
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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

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:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. 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. 
  3. 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. 
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP

Group A

Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA

Group B

Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti

Group C

Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia

Group D

Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

The bio

Favourite book: Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

Favourite quote: “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist

Favourite Authors: Arab poet Abu At-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi

Favourite Emirati food: Luqaimat, a deep-fried dough soaked in date syrup

Hobbies: Reading and drawing

Pad Man

Dir: R Balki

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte

Three-and-a-half stars

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. 

Paltan

Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Results

2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)

2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili

3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson

3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer

4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar

4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly

THE SCORES

Ireland 125 all out

(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)

UAE 125 for 5

(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)

UAE won by five wickets

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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

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

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%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20loss%20of%20sodium%20chloride%20in%20our%20sweat%20can%20lead%20to%20confusion%20and%20an%20altered%20mental%20status%20and%20slurred%20speech%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EBody%20temperature%20above%2039%C2%B0C%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHot%2C%20dry%20and%20red%20or%20damp%20skin%20can%20indicate%20heatstroke%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EA%20faster%20pulse%20than%20usual%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EDizziness%2C%20nausea%20and%20headaches%20are%20also%20signs%20of%20overheating%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIn%20extreme%20cases%2C%20victims%20can%20lose%20consciousness%20and%20require%20immediate%20medical%20attention%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

Updated: November 10, 2023, 12:21 PM`