Aynur Doğan

To hear Aynur’s voice is to hear the transformation of all the layers of human joy and suffering into one sound. It reaches so deep into our soul, tears into our hearts, and then we are for one moment, joined as one. It is unforgettable. Yo-Yo MA Master of Mediterranean Music Awards winner 2017 by Berklee Mediterranean Music Institute, “Berklee College of Music” Aynur (born 1 March 1975) is a contemporary Kurdish singer and musician of Kurdish ancestry from Turkey. She was born in Çemişgezek, a small mountain town in Dersim Province in Turkey and fled to İstanbul in 1992. In 2004 she released the album Keçe Kurdan on Kalan Müzik label. 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 and the Silk Road Ensemble, Kayhan Kalhor, Javier Limón, Kinan Azmeh, Nerderland Blazers Ensemble and NDR Bigband and many more. Meanwhile she appeared in Fatih Akın’s documentary movie “ 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" directed by Morgan Neville in 2015. In 2017, Aynur received the Master of Mediterranean Music Award in the category of “Mediterrannean 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. 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