About Us

Music From Hope is an artistic collective.

Music From Hope program is structured to help participants reflect their culture, use music as activity, aiming to help individuals from different backgrounds, express themselves, network with their peers, find sanctuary, resilience, strength, and expression through using music/musical instruments in interactive group setting. We urge participants to overcome personal barriers, share their culture, experiences, and artistic backgrounds in fun, playful manners. We aim to establish positive communication, sympathy and empathy with all participants.

Our mission is to bring music, the joy that music can bring, and the skills music can introduce to participants from (post) or conflict areas, and also to participants from hosting communities. Our vision is to help participants acclimate, find new ways to communicate with their new communities. This program is also designed to help students in schools find new ways to communicate and create new sounds by facilitating group work effect on music creation.

Though established in Canada in 2017, our operations started long before that in refugee camps in Lebanon 2016 and shelters in Syria 2012. Music From hope is a personal initiative by 2 Syrians artist living currently in Toronto, both having experience in working with children in refugee camps in Lebanon and with non-for-profit foundations in Toronto. Founders Nour and Tarek, had been working and facilitating workshops since 2012 with their journey started in Damascus, Syria, with workshop dedicated to art and moppet theatre in schools, then moved to Lebanon to work in teaching and music. In 2016, they received their first training with Sounds of Change, in refugee camp of Shateela, Beirut, Lebanon. Since then, they have been facilitating workshops in Beirut and Toronto, Canada. In 2018, Music From Hope receive Grand funding from Toronto Art Council to facilitate 30 workshops in cooperation with Costi. Our operations for 2018, 2019, 2020 were supported by: Toronto Arts foundation and Ontario Arts foundation.Which helped us to bring more than 60 Workshops to newcomer children in welcoming centers around Toronto.

Meet Us

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Nour Kadaan

Founder & Facilitator

Nour Kadaan began learning percussion in 2011 in Damascus, Syria, which she then used in camps in Damascus and Lebanon, writing & playing music with children. She experienced how music can help children express their feelings, overcome trauma, and find commonalities with each other through making music, playing rhythms, and creating simple songs and beats.

Nour is a core member of the Syrian-Flamenco band Diar, who create Arabic music infused with Flamenco flavour, an original genre that reflects the musicians' backgrounds and memories. Nour still inspires young people through music in the Music from Hope collective, a creative outlet where children can break emotional barriers, and establish friendships by creating music collaboratively.

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Tareq Ghreri

Founder & Facilitator

Guitarist, musician, started his career as a musician in 2005, since then he has been playing and teaching music in school in Syria, Lebanon and Toronto. He received training in child and youth activities with the Sounds of Change Foundation in Beirut in 2016. He focuses on children and youth who come from conflicted of post conflicted areas, helping them integrate into their new home.

Tareq began playing guitar when he was 14 years old, influenced by the artistic environment in Damascus. He mixes #flamenco with traditional Arabic melodies to revive his own heritage while paying homage to another.

After all the music, Tareq loved vanished during the Syrian crisis, music again saved his life when he was jobless and living in exile after fleeing his home in Damascus in 2013, giving him new hope and a source of inspiration. Once in Toronto, Tareq decided to make a living through music, and notes he sees its effect on his family, friends, and fellow musicians and artists who are touched by the music and often also collaborate, adding their own touch to make the outcome richer and unique.

In Collaboration