Supported by two passionate teachers, a group of people of determination are gearing up to get on to the stage and perform their best as the UAE's first choir for the people of determination.

The choir Dubai EnSENble [SEN means special education needs], that was formed last year, will be performing at various venues across the UAE in the coming months, including at the Special Olympics World Games to be held in Abu Dhabi. They will be doing eight concerts from November 16 to February 2019,.

Most of the members of the team are those with mental disabilities such as autism, Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy.

The choir will host their annual gala concert on November 23 at 5pm at the Canadian University Dubai (CUD), where they will be singing seven songs.

The UAE Philharmonic Orchestra will also perform with EnSENble choir at the concert. To show inclusiveness and that music is for everyone and brings all together, there will also be guest performers from the 'Which School Advisor musician of the year' competition and choirs from schools around Dubai.

The choir was founded by two teachers of Canadian University Dubai (CUD) - Rivaan Mager, music coordinator, and Dusan Popovic, sports coordinator.

The duo, who have worked with people of determination before joining CUD, has a passion for working with them to help them through their shared love of music. The teachers said they formed the choir to show the UAE community that music unites everyone irrespective of our personal challenges in life.

"We noticed that everything the students wanted to get for their further development such as school, education, activities, required a fee. So we decided to start our choir for students of determination that would be completely free of charge," said Rivaan.

Talking about the age group of the participants, Rivaan said: "Although our youngest is six and oldest is about 30, we have not set any age limit for the participants. If you can sing, make a tune and are passionate about music then any people of determination can join. We believe that it is all about creating a level of understanding, if you allow yourself to be understood and get down to their level you will see changes."

Besides, Rivaan and Dusan, about 40 others volunteers are working hard to ensure the success of the choir. The choir started in September 2017 with 22 people of determination.

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