Sakina Teyna was born into a Kurdish Alevi family in Varto. In 1991 she joined the Mesopotamian Cultural Centre in Istanbul as a vocalist; political pressure later forced her into exile. Since 2006 in Austria, she founded the all-female Trio Mara and worked with the Anadolu Quartett.
With jazzhane
- 17.03.2024 Nowruz Festival, Moods Zurich
About
Sakina was born into a Kurdish Alevite family in the small town of Varto in Turkey. As a teenager, she started singing with Turkish choirs and bands, but it wasn’t until she entered university that she became acquainted with Kurdish musical traditions and set out to defy cultural assimilation. In 1991, she joined the Mesopotamian Cultural Centre in Istanbul, a proponent of Kurdish culture, as a vocalist. Like many other Kurdish musicians, she was forced to literally go underground to practice her music and soon she had to choose political activism over art.
It wasn’t until Sakina arrived in Austria as a political refugee in 2006 that she took to singing as a full-time pursuit again.
Sakina joined forces with pianist Nazê Îşxan and violinist Nurê Dilovanî to form the all-female TRIO MARA, drawing on traditional Kurdish songs mainly sung by and passed on by women, enrichening the material with Western classical and contemporary approaches.
In 2013, the trio released their first album DERI / BEHIND THE DOORS, recorded live at the Rudolf Ötker Hall in Bielefeld. This earned the women trio wider acknowledgement. Publicly commissioned, trio mara toured many venues in the region.
Later, Sakina worked with the ANADOLU QUARTETT, touring Austria and Germany. Their first tour is successfully documented in the form of the live album KÖPRÜ/THE BRIDGE (Ahenk Müzik). This recording reached a large audience and garnered the group critical recognition.