Soprano from Hakkari wants to sing Kurdish operas

A Kurdish soprano from the southeastern province of Hakkari, Eylül Kaya, hopes to sing operas in Kurdish once she completes her training. An unusual musical combination, Kaya hopes to create a lasting genre with her art that fusions traditional Kurdish works with western tunes.

Duvar English

Born in the majority-Kurdish southeastern province of Hakkari, soprano Eylül Kaya wants to employ the opera techniques she's studying to Kurdish music, possibly creating a new genre. 

"I want to learn world music and employ it onto Kurdish because I want to demonstrate my personal identity," Kaya says. 

Hoping that the unusual fusion of Kurdish with opera will be lasting, as it's a unique form of the genre, Kaya harmonizes the traditional narrative musical genre of Dengbêj with opera tunes.

Although Kaya's art was received with surprise in the community of eastern Van, she became well-known through her YouTube channel and is now practicing to sing with the world-famed Chilean-Swedish tenor Tito Beltrán upon his request.

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