DUBAI // Still wearing her school uniform and clinging to a rucksack full of books, Sara Al Hashimi tumbles into the Centre for Musical Arts with a wide grin on her face.
As she busily recounts a story about her day at school, her mother, Tala Badri, the manager and founder of the centre, makes sure she is ready for her piano lesson.
When Sara sits down in the studio, at the piano, and places her hands on the keys, her mother smiles.
"Music saved her life," says the 38-year-old Emirati mother. "She is a totally different child from a few years ago."
When Sara was three, she was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. The autism spectrum disorder is characterised by difficulties in social interaction, a lack of nonverbal communication skills, restricted and repetitive behaviour patterns.
The problems surfaced when she started nursery and refused to meet anyone's eye.
Then, if someone she didn't know spoke to her, she would run into a corner and cover her ears, or lock herself in the bathroom.
"It was devastating," said Ms Badri, who also has a five-year-old son, Ali. "We tried so many different remedies, but none of them worked until we found music therapy."
Ms Badri, who teaches piano and flute and has a music degree from Royal Holloway College in London, called upon Marion Richie, a Dubai-based music therapist, to work with Sara.
She started visiting twice a week and playing to Sara on the guitar. At first, Sara just stared into space. However, after three months, she was humming along quietly, or trying to pluck at the strings.
"After six months she was singing and now, if ever she is stressed, she calms herself down by humming, or makes up a song which she usually sings with her brother," said Ms Badri. "Music gave her an outlet."
After Sara's significant improvement, her mother set her dreams upon creating a music school to help other children in the same way.
In 2005, she opened the small, non-profit school in the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre at the Mall of the Emirates. At that time, the school had four, part-time teachers and about 100 students.
After six months, there was a waiting list with more than 600 names, and she began searching for other options.
"Maybe I was naive, but I didn't realise it would be so popular," she said.
There were many more success stories, too: the six-year-old girl who did not speak for a year after her father died, until she started violin lessons; the student who went on to win a scholarship to Boston's Berklee College of Music in the US.
Ms Badri approached several companies with her expansion plans, securing patronage from the Kanoo Group, Abraaj Capital and ANC Investments.
The support allowed her to open the current facility, at Gold and Diamond Park, in September 2007 The school now has 12 fully fitted, sound-proof studios, 18 full-time teachers and 1,400 students.
Although 80 per cent of the students are children, the centre is open for everyone. It hosts regular free concerts in local parks and coffee shops, and has spawned two community orchestras in the last four years. The next public concert will open the Emirates Airline Festival for Literature in March.
"We couldn't function or do what we do today without the initial vote of confidence from the patrons," she said.
The patrons who funded Ms Badri's school were honoured at the Patron of the Arts Awards last year. The awards, hosted by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), recognise individuals and corporations for their support of Dubai's art scene.
aseaman@thenational.ae
Nominations for Dubai’s Patron of the Arts Awards close soon
Dubai // Dubai Culture is calling for last-minute nominations for the second annual Patron of the Arts Awards (PAA).
Alia al Hashimi, the senior specialist at Dubai Culture who heads up the PAA project, said the Centre for Musical Arts in Dubai – launched by the Emirati Tala Badri five years ago – was just the sort of grass-roots project the PAA wanted because it created “a lasting talent base”.
The PAA awards were conceived by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2009 to honour financial and in-kind arts contributors in visual and performing arts, literature and film. Dubai Pearl last year won the Distinguished Patron award for contributing more than Dh5 million for three consecutive years.
“The arts enrich and nourish our well-being, make us happy,” said Abdul Majeed Ismail al Fahim, the chairman. “Without it, life would be sad and unfulfilling.”
Deutsche Bank Middle East last year earned a Supporter of the Arts Patron awards title. The company has 65,000 pieces in its global art collection.
“We believe globally that to come to a country and sell a product is not enough,” said Alexander Schuetz, the chief operating officer.
The deadline for the submissions for the March awards is January 31. Applications can be made online at www.patronsofthearts.ae.
* Anna Seaman
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
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Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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.”
