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00:00Good afternoon. This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. Today we have a very exciting
00:08guest for our Day in the Life of series. We have Elham Almazouki. I think she's a multitasker.
00:14I know she's a cellist. She's got so many superlatives attached to her name. She's an
00:20amazing musician, a prodigy, I'm told, and also a mum, and a lawyer. That's a lot on
00:28your plate. And these are the kind of women we look up to as well. But tell us, what's
00:32a day in your life like?
00:34Oh gosh. Normally, it's getting up at six in the morning. I've got two kids, Amira and
00:43Jacob. So I take them to school, and then go to work. And if it's for those on-site
00:52day, I go to work. I work at Ithara, so I'm senior legal counsel there. And then around
00:58four o'clock, four-ish, I head to Firdos Studio, because I live in Abu Dhabi.
01:03So you do the commute?
01:05Yes, I do the commute. So I get there, I get to Firdos Studio around five o'clock, and
01:11then we do the rehearsals. Usually it's from five to nine. And then I make the trip back
01:18home, and I get home around ten-ish.
01:21That's called a full day.
01:23Yes, that's pretty much. And then I crash. I kind of have to emphasize that it's not
01:27every day, because I'm a part-timer musician. So I do this twice a week. However, when we
01:37do have, for example, recordings, or video shoots, or performances, or anything like
01:44that, I will say, right, I'm going to work remote from the studio. Because I feel that
01:50if we don't do the things that we are passionate about, then you get to a point in life that
01:58you think, all right, why didn't I do that? Why didn't I pursue this? Is it because of
02:04family? Is it because of society? Is it because of all of that?
02:07You know, I was very fortunate when I was younger that my parents were always pushing
02:13me to do all the music stuff. So, for example, my mom, she founded the first music institute
02:20in Abu Dhabi. So that's when I started my musical education. I started with piano. Then
02:27later on in life, much later, in my 20s, I started my thing, right? I want to be part
02:36of an orchestra. I always loved the cello. I said, let's do this. I'm very grateful that
02:42actually I have the opportunity to do this. You know, I auditioned for Purdos back, it
02:48was just after the pandemic.
02:50Yes, I remember.
02:51Yeah, it was all online, everything.
02:53And you're the only Emirati musician to have made that cut.
02:55Yeah.
02:56Yes.
02:57Yes.
02:58I mean, it's reflected pride for all of us.
02:59Yeah, I mean, I was shocked. Actually, I was shocked. I'm thinking, it's kind of a double
03:05edged sword. It's like, why am I the only one? Like, maybe it's reflective of, you know,
03:10maybe the education or the musical education you find, you don't have that, you know, embedded
03:16within the schools like what you have in Europe, for example, you know, whereas I was able
03:21to do that because I, through my mom, you know, she actually wanted me to study music
03:26at university. She wanted to see all of this. And so did my dad, which is quite, you know,
03:31different from Middle Eastern families.
03:32Yes, of course. They didn't want you to be a doctor.
03:36And I said, I wanted, first of all, I had like, I actually did English and French degree
03:41in the UK. And then I decided, right, I want to, you know, spend time in France. Then I
03:47said, right, I want to be a lawyer. And they just looked at me and they're like, what?
03:51Why a lawyer? Why a conventional job?
03:54Why? Why don't you just go back into the, you know, the music? And I'm like, yeah, yeah,
03:58no, no, I'm gonna be a lawyer.
03:59I love your visions.
04:00And they were like, okay. So I did that. And then a master's and then I qualified as a
04:06solicitor in the UK. So I'm an English solicitor. And then, you know, pulled me from two different
04:12directions. And I was still doing the piano bit, you know, so I was still continuing that
04:17and, you know, and everything. And then I'm like, you know what, I want to be part of
04:22a team. Like, I always wanted to be part of an orchestra. I was part of an orchestra when
04:27I was in school, but that was like, you know, when you have the recorder and whatever, all
04:31of this kind of stuff, but not like,
04:33this is professional. And you perform with Beyonce, we have a piano, we have a cello.
04:37And we are talking like world-class musicians, right? They take their art very seriously.
04:41Well, this is the thing, because when I started, you know, taking cello lessons and everything,
04:48I went straight into being part of an orchestra, into community orchestra. And then it was
04:53going from one community orchestra to another orchestra, another, you know, you know, semi,
04:58you know, professional, semi-professional, etc. But they were all freelancers. And then
05:03I got into, you know, performing with Andrea Bocelli in Abu Dhabi and also in Saudi. And
05:11yeah, Beyonce, I mean.
05:13She was also very inspiring. I was there at the performance. I saw her husband and her
05:18kids watching from the top, and he was watching her like a hawk. And I could see the kind
05:23of support that husbands actually, like he's almost like her manager, right?
05:27Yeah, pretty much.
05:28You know, looks after her brand, the way she performs. Is that, does your husband also
05:32like watch out for you perhaps?
05:34Yeah, the thing is, with my husband, I'm really lucky in that aspect, because, you know, some
05:40people might think, oh, it's taking me away from family time, taking me away from this
05:45and that. But he really does support, you know, with the whole me being in this industry,
05:51me going to overdose, me going, you know, rehearsals, dealing with the kids when I
05:58could be dealing with them, you know. So or if I'm in a magazine or if I'm in a newspaper
06:05or whatever, I'm like, Anthony, can you go and get me? I haven't got time. I can't. And
06:10it's only for today. And, you know, the edition is gone because I want the hard copies. And
06:16he would just go around. I can't find it here. Go somewhere else. Go somewhere else.
06:21That's a supportive husband. I think that's also required, right? It takes a community
06:24to, you know, I mean, perhaps to cultivate talent.
06:27I think it's very easy for us to say, oh, we can do it on our own. Yes. Yes, we can.
06:33But why not have that support as well? Because you then will have more time to think of your
06:39music instead of worrying, oh, you know what? I'm a bad mom or, you know, I'm a bad wife
06:45or I'm not, you know, picking up after this. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing this. Why
06:50is it always like the women have to feel that they are, you know, sacrificing so much
06:56when you would never ask that from a guy, if a guy went on tour or a musician, you just
07:01feel like, OK, it's on tour, you know, you would never if he has kids, you know, you
07:05would never ask them. Nobody asked them. Yeah. Are you doing this? Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
07:11Nobody asked, you know, them these questions. So it's kind of like I feel that, you know,
07:17these questions, they kind of also make us feel that, you know, we are never going to
07:22be enough. We're never going to be enough in terms of being a mom, in terms of being,
07:28you know, a worker, in terms of being a lawyer, in terms of being a musician, in terms of
07:33being wife, in terms of being, you know, all of that. And I think we should really, really
07:37cut ourselves some slack here. Do you think we should at some point just say women need
07:41to have it all? It's yeah, we don't look. I feel that we do not have it all. However,
07:50you need to be very strategic in what you want. OK, you can't say I'm going to be this
07:54and I'm going to be that and I'm going to be that and I'm going to because it's just
07:56not feasible. You know, even a guy. OK, if you tell I'm going to be all of these things,
08:02you would burn out as well. Like, for example, you're practicing. There is a complicated
08:06piece that you're practicing and it's it's it's so every like you're analyzing the piece
08:12and then you're like, right, you know, first, how you have to kind of deconstruct it and
08:18build it together. OK, the style, you know, the technique, the phrasing, this that it's
08:24like you're sculpting. Yes, you're sculpting every day. And then you feel every day you're
08:29feeling better about yourself. You know, they're like, oh, yeah, I feel I feel good that I've
08:33done this. I feel that good that I've mastered this because you're not going to get from
08:36one to 100 like in one day. You know, no need to beat yourself up about it. OK, you just
08:42don't feel it's not vibing. OK, so let's try and find some inspiration. There has been
08:47times like I'm just like I'm just not feeling it. So I'm like, right, let me find inspiration
08:52in different genres, different style, different like, you know, composers, whatever it is.
09:00And sometimes it's just maybe you just require a break so your brain can digest everything
09:09and say, right, I'm ready again. It takes me a long time to be able to switch off. But
09:14even then, because you have two careers, if you switch off from work, let's say you have
09:18annual leave, you go to work or you go to, you know, a holiday. But your music thing
09:23is still going on. You still want to because it's still a bit. Yeah, because you're like,
09:29oh, I have to do this Instagram thing. I have to do that. I have to do this. OK, this article,
09:34like they're asking me questions for interview. I have to respond. Yes. And you saw an icon
09:40in action, you know, the kind of like they they practice so much. You just see hard work.
09:45It was even because even behind the scenes, when you were rehearsing with them, rehearsing
09:51with the dancers, rehearsing with the band, rehearsing with everyone, you can see, you
09:56know, the level of professionalism, you know, like it's and it's very much like and there's
10:02a lot of respect as well, you know, going with the artists to artists, you know, and
10:07everything is just like, right, this is what we're going to do. And I remember it was like
10:12in January. So it was cold at nighttime and there was water and, you know, dancers in
10:19water. It was freezing. So it was, you know, it's kind of like in that you saw the level
10:26of sacrifice, the professionalism, the discipline, the discipline, the consistency, right? They
10:30turn up every day. Yes, yes. This is not a joke. I mean, this is, you know, you can't
10:35just say, oh, I'm not doing it, I'm tired. No, you do it, you know. So for me, it was
10:40like one of those things. I mean, we had like other concerts as well. Like, for example,
10:46one other concert was Anushka Shankar. Oh, wow. What is it in Dubai? Yeah, yeah. It was
10:52in Dubai. That was like amazing, because, you know, she's such an icon and, you know,
10:59a woman, you know, a female musician, female composer, you know, her her works were not
11:04easy as well, you know, and we really, really worked hard. And it was I loved her and it's
11:11opened the world, my world, OK, to different genres of music. So, you know, and yeah, I'm
11:18very grateful for that. And I love the fact that you said women can't have it all. It's
11:21OK. Define your role. Define your role. Choose your role. Choose it. And, you know, like
11:26for me, it's be strategic, be, you know, figure out what you want, OK, and find a way. You
11:32have to plan. You can't just go, right, I'm going to this. I don't know how I'm going
11:35to get to that. No. Do your research. How are you going to get to that place that you
11:39want? Ask for help. There's no absolute. I've asked for help so many times. No, that really
11:44On that note, thank you so much for speaking to us. Thank you very much for having me.