By Shahad Haif
DUBAI – In 2006, a group of Zayed University students decided to open a music club at Zayed University called Harmony to recruit and train talented and interested students who want play musical instruments.
Asma Mohammed, the founding president of Harmony, called the group Harmony because to her expressing oneself, singing, playing music brings peace and harmony. She did not want to add the word “Club” to Harmony so that students would not compare Harmony with other clubs.
To her, Harmony has a meaning of beginnings, challenges and happiness.
“I always like to help other people, and to me creating a family that shares their talents makes me satisfied,” said Ms. Mohammed.
It took creativity and determination on the part of the founding members to start Harmony as the idea was relatively new and culturally challenging.
“We started Harmony by coincidence. The idea came to us when we had an assignment where we had to write about our dream job. My dream job was to be a guitarist, but I had never played one before,” said Ms. Mohammed.
The next thing that happened after this assignment was the founding of Harmony.
Harmony consists of two communities: the first community is the major members who work on managing the minor members or the second community.
Ten major members work on choosing the new members and providing activities for minor members. To join the major members, a prospective member needs to pass an interview or to audition demonstrating that she knows how to play at least one instrument.
More than 80 minor members attend instrumental classes. Harmony provides guitar, violin, vocal and flute classes for minor members which are taught by professionals.
The current advisor of Harmony is Dr. David Palfreyman, and he encourages students to join the club by saying, “I would suggest students join us if they are interested. Students don’t need to play an instrument to join Harmony.”
Dr. Palfreyman gives guitar, violin, and piano classes for students who are interested in learning a new talent.
Although he believes that students used to be uncomfortable with the idea of playing in public, this issue has changed in the recent years. He believes that in the future Harmony will be mostly managed by students.
There are different artists in the club sharing one name, and to Anoud Abdullah, Harmony is her home.
“In Harmony, I feel that I’m a part of a family,” said Ms. Abdullah, a Film and Video senior and a former president of Harmony.
Ms. Abdullah welcomes students to join Harmony by saying, “If you have a musical talent, then come to Harmony. You are welcome to join us anytime.”
The club members always participate in Zayed University events such as the annual clubs fairs, National Day celebrations and Zayed University Entrepreneurial Carnival. Also, the university relies on Harmony to produce music and videos for several university events.
The members also participate in events outside the university like the Sikka Art Fair.
Harmony members feel it is an artistic and fun club to be in because members are united, and they support each other to follow their dreams.
About the author
Shahad Haif is a junior at Zayed University majoring in International Affairs. She enjoys writing, editing, and interviewing people. She is an artist at HearMyEcho.com. Website: http://Shahadtalks.wordpress.com
This story was originally published on Dec. 1, 2014. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 23, 2020
