Şebnem Paker (born 20 July 1977) is a Turkish guitarist, singer and

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

.Şebnem Paker Kimdir?
in Turkish. Archived fro
the original
on 13 May 2024. She represented Turkey at

Eurovision Song Contest 1997 The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 May 1997 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ) and presented by C ...

, finishing third.

Biography

Paker attended the Department of Classical Guitar at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

State Conservatory between 1992 and 1996. Later, she studied singing at

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

Music Department. Paker represented

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1996 The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NRK) and presented by Ingvild Bryn and ...

and

. Her 1997 entry, " Dinle", composed by Levent Çoker and written by Mehtap Alnıtemiz, won third place. This was Turkey's best result in the contest until its 1st-place win in 2003. Paker released her only album, also called ''Dinle'', in August 1997. In 1998, she once again competed in the national finals, organized by TRT, with the song "Çal". With its moving melody and embellished with ethnic Turkish instruments, it was an attempt to attract the attention of European audiences. Her goal was to achieve a more successful result at the Eurovision Song Contest each year, however the song was not chosen to represent Turkey at the contest that year. Paker graduated from Marmara University Music Education Singing Department in 2000. She has been working as a music teacher since 2004, after working for 4 years in private educational institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education. She taught music at Avni Akyol Fine Arts High School in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

until 2018; since then, she has been employed at the Aydın Doğan Fine Arts High School. She also coauthored a textbook to be used in art high schools in Turkey. Paker has been married to Soner Odabaş since 22 September 2012. Together they have two children. On 26 August 2023 Şebnem made headlines after it was announced that she was hired as the music teacher for a school in

Milas Milas is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,067 km2, and its population is 147,416 (2022). The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient rema ...

Muğla Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the district of Menteşe, Muğla, Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paker, Sebnem 1977 births Living people Turkish women pop singers Turkish pop singers Musicians from Istanbul Istanbul University alumni Turkish women music educators Turkish guitarists Turkish women guitarists Eurovision Song Contest entrants