Pervin Chakar (born Pervin Çakar, in

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...

, 1981) is a Kurdish opera singer from Turkey. Having been trained as a singer in Turkey and Italy, she currently resides in Germany.

Early life and education

Chakar was born into a Kurdish family from Mardin, Turkey, in 1981 and attended the fine arts high school in Diyarbakır, where she also took cello lessons. During her studies at the Anatolian High School, she took up writing and with one of her stories she participated in a competition in Ankara. At the competitions party she was singing the song ''Ich Liebe Dich'' (I love you) by Ludwig van Beethoven, which has impressed one of the jurors to the extent he gave her a CD of the opera singer

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

. Listening to Callas inspired her to pursue a career as a soprano. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Gazi University in Ankara in 2003, becoming a singing teacher. She decided to follow up on her studies in Italy in 2004 when an Italian opera manager invited her to enroll into the in Perugia from where she graduated with a master's degree.

Professional career

During her eleven-year stay in Italy she performed for the first time at the in Milan in 2006. Later she sang as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Titania in the

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

by William Shakespeare or Megacles in the L'Olympiade by

Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant comp ...

. She has sung in several languages of the ancient Mesopotamia such as Armenian, Kurdish, Zazaki and performed Kurdish folksongs from the Ottoman Armenian composer Komitas Vartabend for his 150th anniversary in the

Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall The Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall ( tr, Cemal Reşit Rey Konser Salonu) is a concert hall located in the Harbiye neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the country's major concert halls, being the first one designed for classical music. N ...

in Istanbul. Since 2016 she lives in Baden-Baden, Germany.

On singing in the Kurdish language

She has only in 2011 decided to learn the Kurdish language, after having been confronted with news on the

Roboski airstrike The Roboski massacre ( ku, Komkujiya Roboskî), also known as the Uludere airstrike, took place on December 28, 2011, at Ortasu, Uludere near the Iraq-Turkey border, when the Turkish Air Force bombed a group of Kurdish civilians who had been ...

in which several Kurdish villagers were killed and mistaken for militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Onwards she learned songs from Kurdish singers and became a strong supporter of performing in the Kurdish language also having composed a melody to the Kurdish poem Qimil by Musa Anter. In 2022, Çakar claimed that her concert at

Mardin Artuklu University Mardin Artuklu University (MAU) is a university located in Mardin, Turkey. It was established in 2007. Language programs In 2009, the university was allowed to open a Kurdish language Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spo ...

, which opened the first Kurdish course in Turkey, was canceled because there were Kurdish songs in her repertoire. A former lawmaker of the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP) Abdurrahman Kurt attempted to weigh with the University's rector, but was not able to change their mind. The Turkish daily

Yeni Safak Yeni can refer to: * Yeni, Acıpayam, Turkey * Yeni, Bago, Myanmar * Yeni, Katha Township, Myanmar * Yeni, Mahlaing Township, Myanmar * Yeni, Tavas Below is the list of populated places in Denizli Province, Turkey by the districts. In the fo ...

claimed that the reason given for the cancellation was the fact that she wanted to go on a stage that was free of charge, while trying to sell tickets for a price. Students that went to the 'Spring Festival' organized by the same university posted videos of artists singing in Kurdish, contradicting her claim.

References

{{Commons Category 1981 births Kurdish-language singers of Turkey Kurdish women singers Turkish opera singers Living people People from Mardin Gazi University alumni