“Nai” means “the sound of the flute” in Arabic. It was suggested by Shireen Abu-Khader, a renowned Arabic choral conductor, as the name of the choir. The inspiration comes from the poetry of Gibran Khalil Gibran: “Give me the flute, and sing / immortality lies in a song / and even after we’ve perished / the flute continues to lament”. The name expresses the suffering of refugees, their resilience, and the transformative power of music. It reflects well the vision of Nai Children’s Choir – a space for healing, learning and rejoicing.
Nai’s mission is to empower refugee children through music and develop them to be future leaders of our diverse society.
Meet Malak and Julia (brother-sister) from Syria. These young Ismaili Muslims are choristers with Nai Choir. They came to Canada little over a year ago. Through their unique perspectives, you are going to see why Nai Choir is such a great program for children who fled war and unrest coming to Canada. Below video is from January 2019.
Ismailimail 