Pervin Chakar

Pervin Chakar (born 1981, Mardin) is a Kurdish opera singer living in Europe. Having trained as a singer in Turkey and Italy, she currently resides in Germany.

Pervin Chakar
Pervîn Çakar
Background information
Born (1981-06-19) June 19, 1981
Mardin,Turkey

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.[1] During her studies at the Anatolian High School, she took up writing and with one her stories she participated in a competition in Ankara.[1] 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.[1] Listening to Callas inspired her to pursue a career as a soprano.[1] She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Gazi University in Ankara in 2003,[2] becoming a singing teacher.[3] She decided to follow up on her studies in Italy after in 2004[1] an Italian opera manager invited her to enroll into the Conservatorio F. Morlacchi in Perugia[4] from where she graduated with a master's degree.[5]

Professional career

During her eleven-year stay in Italy she performed for the first time at the Rosetum in Milan in 2006.[6] Later she sang as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Titania in the A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare or Megacles in the L'Olympiade by Josef Mysliveček.[6] She has sung in several languages of the ancient Mesopotamia such as Armenian, Kurdish, Zazaki[4] and performed Kurdish folksongs from the Ottoman Armenian composer Komitas Vartabend for his 150th anniversary in the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul.[7] Since 2016 she lives in Baden-Baden, Germany.[8]

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 in which several Kurdish villagers were killed and mistaken for militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).[9] Onwards she learned songs from Kurdish singers and became a strong supporter of performing in the Kurdish language[9][10] also having composed a melody to the Kurdish poem Qimil by Musa Anter.[9][8]

In 2022, Çakar claimed that her concert at Mardin Artuklu University, which opened the first Kurdish course in Turkey,[11] was canceled because there were Kurdish songs in her repertoire.[12][13][14] A former lawmaker of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Abdurrahman Kurt attempted to weigh with the Universities rector, but was not able to change their mind.[12] The Turkish daily Yeni Safak 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.[15] Students that went to the event posted videos of the event of artists singing in Kurdish, contradicting her claim.[15]

References
  1. Tokyay, Meneke (2020-10-13). "Turkey's Kurdish opera singer inspires Kurds by singing in native tongue". Arab News. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  2. klasiknotlari.com. "Classical Music Notes - Classical Music Soloist". Klasik Notlar. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  3. "Pervin Chakar". RED MUSIC DIGITAL (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  4. Tokyay, Menekse (2022-03-31). "Kurdish diva Pervin Chakar delves into Mesopotamian heritage". Arab News. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  5. "FRÜHLING DER KULTUREN Newroz Nourouz Musikfestival +++verschoben auf 29.5.+++ – Lutherkirche Südstadt Köln" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  6. "Talent Unlimited: The project to support student musicians through giving them the opportunity of giving concerts: Pervin Çakar". www.talent-unlimited.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  7. Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Pervin Chakar Inspires, Singing Opera in Kurdish". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  8. "Sopranistin Pervin Chakar singt „Qimil" von Musa Anter". Firat News Agency (in German). 26 September 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  9. "Pervin Chakar Has to Go to Europe to Sing Opera in Kurdish". Alsiasi. 2020-10-13. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  10. Sela, Hiwa (1 July 2017). "Pervin Chaka: Melding opera with traditional Kurdish music". Rudaw.
  11. "Turkey university begins country's first Kurdish course". BBC News. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  12. "Kurdish diva brokenhearted but resolute in face of language discrimination in Turkey - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  13. kurdishvoice (2022-08-02). "Turkish university silences soprano over Kurdish songs". Kurdishvoice Περιοδικό Ελλάδα Κουρδιστάν | Η φωνή των Κούρδων. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  14. "Award-winning opera singer barred from taking stage at university over Kurdish songs". Gazete Duvar (in Turkish). 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  15. "'Kürtçe repertuvarım nedeniyle engellendim' diyerek Mardin Artuklu Üniversitesi'ni hedef gösteren Pervin Çakar'ın ücretli konseri için ücretsiz salon talep ettiği ortaya çıktı". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). 1 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
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