Tirion and Tiri have been friends since they grew up in the Bulkley Valley of Northern B.C. They both learned violin at an early age playing with the Valley Youth Fiddlers in Smithers. Over the years, they performed together in a variety of orchestras and fiddle groups, including the Prince George Symphony, Talisker, and the Twisted String, a group of teen fiddlers founded by Oliver Schroer. Tirion and Kiri are currently both in Victoria studying in mathematics and science at UVic.
Dave Conway
Dave taught music and classroom subjects in elementary schools in Northern B.C. for more than twenty years before moving back to Victoria in 2014. Zita and Dave were co-chairs of a refugee group from 2015 to 2018 that completed sponsorships for three families. He plays bass with the band Seabreeze and guitar at St. Philip Anglican Church.
Jordie Maaz and Habbous Deeb
Jordie and Habbous are from Syria and arrived with their three children in 2016. All three kids are now teenagers and doing very well in high school. Like many professionals arriving in Canada, Jordie and Habbous were forced to change careers and now work in a group home and optometry office. Victoria has been blessed by them bringing a wealth of experience performing traditional and popular Arabic music. Jordie plays oud, keyboard and doumbek (hand drum) to accompany Habbous singing.
Mohammad Rashid
Mohammad was born in Syria and came to Victoria with his family in 2017. In the six years since his arrival at age 12 with no English and no background in music, he has become a successful songwriter in his new language, as well as learning the studio skills to record and produce his own music. Since graduating from high school in 2022, he continues to pursue his passion for music while working full time at Thriftys as one of the company’s youngest supervisors. Mohammad has learned to market his music online and has over 1000 monthly listeners in twenty countries streaming his songs thousands of times.