Aynur Doğan (born 1 March 1975) is a contemporary

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

singer and musician from

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 ...

Career

Aynur Doğan was born in

Çemişgezek Çemişgezek (; ) is a municipality (belde) and seat of Çemişgezek District of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The mayor is Levent Metin Yıldız ( AKP). The town had a population of 3,009 in 2021 and is populated by both Kurds and Turks. The tow ...

, a small mountain town in

Tunceli Province Tunceli Province (), formerly Dersim Province (; ; ), is a province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its central city is Tunceli. The province has a Kurdish majority. Moreover, it is the only province in Turkey with an Alevi majority. ...

and fled to

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 ...

in 1992. She studied ''saz'' and ''türkü'' singing in an influential music school in Istanbul, the Arif Sağ Müsik. In 2004 she released the album ''Keçe Kurdan'' on

Kalan Müzik Kalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish independent record label company based in Istanbul. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music ...

label. ''Keçe Kurdan'' was banned in 2005 due to the fact that two words in the song, ''Keçe'' (Girl) and ''Ceng'' (battle), according to a court in Diyarbakır, would encourage women to leave their partners, go to the mountains and hence the words promote division. The following year the ban was lifted. In 2005 she had a small role as herself in the movie Gönul Yarası. In July 2011 she was invited to perform for IKSV Jazz Festival however her performance was cut short after the first song when Turkish audience started protesting and shouted at her to sing in Turkish. In 2012, following repeated threats by right-wing and anti-Kurdish militants, she relocated to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Aynur is a vocal artist who specializes in infusing traditional Kurdish folk music with a contemporary sensibility influenced by Western music. Her stunning vocal style and success in the music world has allowed her to become a prominent representative of Kurdish people in Turkey and throughout the world. She has taken the wealth of Kurdish oral tradition to the international stage that many of them at least 300 years old. Aynur has collaborated with numerous musicians, including

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

and the

Silk Road Ensemble Silkroad, formerly the Silk Road Project, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and ...

Kayhan Kalhor Kayhan Kalhor (, born on 24 November 1964) is an Iran, Iranian Kurds, Kurdish kamancheh and setar player, and a vocal composer. He has received three Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album nominations. Kalhor has also earned two nom ...

Javier Limón Javier Limón (born 1973) is a record producer, singer and songwriter born and raised in Madrid, Spain. Limón has worked with several artists, mainly from Spain, since he incorporates elements of flamenco rhythm to his work. Besides his work as ...

Kinan Azmeh Kinan Azmeh (, born June 10, 1976, in Damascus), is a Syrian clarinet player and composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. Performing with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Ra ...

, Nederland Blazers Ensemble and NDR Bigband and many more. Meanwhile, she appeared in

Fatih Akın Fatih Akin (, born 25 August 1973) is a Turkish-German film director, screenwriter and producer. His films have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Head-On'' (2004), Best Scr ...

's documentary film '' Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul'' as a singer and was also part of the documentary film about Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble named "

The music of Strangers ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

" directed by

Morgan Neville Morgan Neville (born October 10, 1967) is an American filmmaker. His acclaimed film ''20 Feet from Stardom'' won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2014 as well as a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. His documentary '' Best of Ene ...

in 2015.

Awards And Recognition

In 2017, Aynur received the Master of Mediterranean Music Award in the category of “Mediterranean Women in Action” from the Berklee Mediterranean Music Institute. This award recognized Aynur's efforts to preserve and reinterpret Kurdish folk music, which has transformed her into an influential role model for other women artists on the Mediterranean music scene who are seeking to share their voices. In August 2021 she was granted the Womex award for her resilience to perform in an environment in which she both as a Kurd and an Alevi has often been discriminated. ''Whenever she takes a melody, she makes it her own, transforming it into something beautiful, and every note, every microtone, every word reaches depth and unparalleled beauty. She is a reason to love live music for centuries.” – Javier Limon

Albums

*''Rabe'', 2024 *'' Hêdur'', 2020, * '' Hevra'', Sony Music Classical, 2013, * '' Rewend'', Sony Music, 2010 * '' Nûpel'', Kalan Music, 2005 * '' Keçe Kurdan'', Kalan Music, 2004 * ''Seyir'', 2002

Albums on which she has been featured

*'' Hawniyaz'', (2016) *''Güldünya Şarkıları'', (2008) *

Zülfü Livaneli Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu (born 20 June 1946), better known as Zülfü Livaneli, is a Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician. Livaneli was imprisoned several times during the 1971 Turkish military memorandum for his political views, ...

''Bir Kuşaktan Bir Kuşağa, Dağlara Küstüm Ali'' (2016) *

Kardeş Türküler Kardeş Türküler (translated either as Brotherly Songs or as Ballads of Fraternity) is a contemporary Turkish ethnic/ folkloric band. It was formed in 1993 with a series of stage performances given by the music branch of the Folklore Club at ...

, ''Bahar'' (2005) *

Mercan Dede Mercan Dede (born Arkın Ilıcalı, 1966), also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish-Canadian composer, ney and bendir player, DJ, and producer. He is a world music artist, playing a fusion of traditional acoustic Turkish and other oriental ...

, ''Nefes (Breath)'', (2006) *Orient Expressions, ''Divan'', (2004) *Nederland Blazer Ensemble, ''Turqoıse'' (2006) * Mor ve Ötesi, ''Mermiler'' (2012) *A. Rıza - Hüseyin Albayrak, ''Böyle Buyurdu Aşık'' (2013), ''Şah Hatayi Deyişleri'' (2005) *Metin Kemal Kahraman, ''Ferfecir'', (1999), ''Sürella'', (2000) *Lütfü Gültekin, ''Gül Türküleri'' (2003), ''Derman Bizdedir'', (1999) *

Grup Yorum Grup Yorum is a band from Turkey known for their political songwriting. Grup Yorum (''yorum'' means 'rendition' of a piece of art or music, 'interpretation' or 'commentary' in Turkish) has released twenty-three albums and one film since 1985. So ...

, ''Yürüyüş'', (2003) *

, ''Mujeres De Agua'', (2010)

References

External links

Official website

"Kurdish voice in a new world,"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', September 17, 2006
"SONGLINES: AYNUR / SOLACE IN EXILE"
September 4, 2020

October 23, 2018
"World Music Central: Artist Profiles / Aynur"
September 13, 2018
"Qantara: Trost aus den Klängen der Heimat"
November 17, 2020
"Kurdish singer Aynur Dogan performs next to Italian conductor Riccardo Muti"
July 5, 2020
"Kurdish singer Aynur received the Master of Mediterranean Music Award 2017"
March 8, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dogan, Aynur 1975 births Living people People from Çemişgezek Turkish Kurdish people Kurdish women singers Kurdish-language singers of Turkey 21st-century Turkish women singers