Nai Barghouti sings the way you remember a place: vividly, warmly, and sometimes suddenly from afar. With her quartet—piano, bass guitar, percussion, and qanun—she moves between Arabic classics and her own music, somewhere between improvisation and song.

For Wonderfeel, she is writing a new composition centered on the idea of home. She writes about it: “As a Palestinian, the granddaughter of refugees, and a resident of a country that has remained resilient and beautiful despite decades of colonialism, occupation, and ethnic cleansing, the stories and feelings of displacement have always been deeply rooted in my identity and in my work as a musician. Palestine was the reason I started composing and studying music. Palestine was the reason I almost stopped, and also the reason I never did. This composition is about that, about my home: the scent of our streets, the stories behind people’s faces, the organized chaos that shapes our daily lives, and the ability to remain gentle, steadfast, and hopeful despite everything. This composition reminds us that despair is not an option.” 

Ruven Ruppik - percussion
Khalil Khoury - qanûn
Mark Haanstra - bass guitar
Tony Roe – piano