Good things come to those who try!

EMERGING Bahraini musician Noora Al Moosa was one of four to get selected for the Berklee Abu Dhabi Performing Artists and Leadership programme last year, and since then has performed her first regional gig and worked on two new singles set for release after Ramadan.

Berklee Abu Dhabi scrutinises more than 100 applications and admits only four students every semester and Noora was elated to be amongst the chosen ones. She was also selected by Tamkeen - the body that has been empowering Bahraini talent in entrepreneurial and other ventures - that partly sponsored her course.

The self-taught artist has been active on the kingdom’s music scene for a while now but she wanted to take things to the next level and the programme came about at the right time.

“On a trip to Ireland, I saw how artists carried themselves and navigated their work from all angles of music creation – performance to the business side of things – which broadened my perspective,” the former banking and finance consultant told GulfWeekly.

“On returning to Bahrain, I continued working in corporate sector and pursued music on the side, but felt restless and so I started looking for artist development programmes and the rest just fell in place organically.

“I applied for a programme at Berklee Abu Dhabi and around the same time was shortlisted for Tamkeen’s Global Ready Entrepreneur Programme.”

Noora, aka Goodth_ngs, joined Berklee Abu Dhabi in September and met big names in the international music industry like Grammy-nominated Mayssa Karaa and Latin Grammy winner Gael Hedding who encouraged her to spread her wings and get out of her comfort zone.

In addition to music, she learned about the commercial side of things, which she highlights is very important in today’s world.

“It’s not enough if you make good music, you also need to be able to market it in the right way. I selected Berklee Abu Dhabi because they have a focus on the music industry in the region, which is fast growing as a hub for talents,” the Bahraini-Filipino artist, whose work transcends genres, blending folk, rock, and indie pop to create her unique sound, added.

Following the completion of her three-month course, Noora attended the  XP Music Futures conference in Saudi Arabia. She also bagged a gig in Kuwait this year at an event organised by Art Scene Kuwait, a community initiative fostering arts, culture and other creative pursuits.

“I felt more cognisant especially after the Kuwait gig where I performed for the Is This Thing On? show, which was sold out! It was surreal presenting my work in front of more than 300 people.

“I also performed at The Nest by Al Riwaq Art Space this year,” she said.

“Performances are therapeutic for me. There is no place I feel more at home, grounded and in tune with myself than when I’m performing on stage and creating music. It’s where I feel I can connect with people and be seen authentically,” the 26-year-old added.

Noora is excited to release two singles after Ramadan which are improvised versions of the tracks Sugar Shout and Oras – Tagalog for hours – from her album Bedroom Recordings.

“Bedroom Recordings are a collection of nine songs that I came up with in my bedroom, hence the name. They have a raw feel to them because that’s how they were created. However, the singles will have more musical elements to it. I will be applying the learnings from my time at Berklee, which you will be able to listen on the tracks,” the A’ali resident explained.

Noora held a guitar for the first time when she was about 20 but her tryst with music began as an eight-year-old in her living room.

“I was humming a tune and mum came running from the kitchen thinking it was coming from the TV. She was surprised to learn it was me and from then on, she, my father and sisters encouraged me to pursue my talent.

“I did karaoke and even listened to music, studying the different sounds. I developed my taste in music over the years, which has helped me in my musical career as well,” Noora noted.

For more details, follow @goodth_ngs on Instagram.