{{Short description|Kurdish-Turkish opera singer (born 1981)}} {{use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Pervin Chakar | honorific_suffix = | image = Pervin Chakar.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | caption = | native_name = Pervîn Çakar | native_name_lang = ku | birth_name = <!-- leave empty if the same "name" --> | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1981|06|19}} | birth_place = Mardin, Turkey | origin = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date first) --> | death_place = | genre = | occupation = Opera singer | years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) --> | label = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} or {{Official URL}} --> | module = | module2 = | module3 = }}
'''Pervin Chakar''' (Kurdish: '''Pervîn Çakar''', born June 19, 1981) is a Kurdish-Turkish opera singer. 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 Amed (Diyarbakır), where she also took cello lessons.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Tokyay |first=Meneke |date=2020-10-13 |title=Turkey's Kurdish opera singer inspires Kurds by singing in native tongue |url=https://arab.news/2dad5 |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Arab News}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /> At the competitions party she was singing the song "Ich liebe Dich" (I love you) by Ludwig van Beethoven, then one of the jurors gave her a CD of the opera singer Maria Callas.<ref name=":0" /> Listening to Callas inspired her to pursue a career as a soprano.<ref name=":0" /> She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Gazi University in Ankara in 2003,<ref>{{Cite web |last=klasiknotlari.com |title=Classical Music Notes – Classical Music Soloist |url=http://www.klasiknotlari.com/en/294/Pervin_Cakar.html |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Klasik Notlar}}</ref> becoming a singing teacher.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pervin Chakar |url=https://www.redmusicdigital.com/pervin-chakar |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Red Music Digital |language=tr-TR}}</ref> She decided to follow up on her studies in Italy in 2004<ref name=":0" /> when an Italian opera manager invited her to enroll into the {{Interlanguage link|Conservatorio Francesco Morlacchi|it}} in Perugia<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Tokyay |first=Menekse |date=2022-03-31 |title=Kurdish diva Pervin Chakar delves into Mesopotamian heritage |url=https://arab.news/rtpvw |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Arab News}}</ref> from where she graduated with a master's degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frühling der Kulturen Newroz Nourouz Musikfestival|publisher={{ill|Lutherkirche (Cologne)|de|Lutherkirche (Köln)}}|url=https://www.lutherkirche-suedstadt.de/veranstaltungen/fruehling-der-kulturen/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |language=de}}</ref>
== Professional career == During her eleven-year stay in Italy she performed for the first time at the {{Interlanguage link|Rosetum|lt=Rosetum|it}} in Milan in 2006.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Pervin Chakar|url=http://www.talent-unlimited.org.uk/profile24.html |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=www.talent-unlimited.org.uk}}</ref> Later she sang as Rosina in ''The Barber of Seville'', Tytania in Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', Megacles in the ''L'Olympiade'' by Josef Mysliveček.<ref name=":2" /> She has sung in several languages of the ancient Mesopotamia such as Armenian, Kurdish, Zazaki<ref name=":1" /> and performed Kurdish folksongs from the Ottoman Armenian composer Komitas for his 150th anniversary in the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Pervin Chakar Inspires, Singing Opera in Kurdish |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/turkey/article/Pervin-Chakar-Inspires-Singing-Opera-in-Kurdish-20201013 |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=BroadwayWorld}}</ref> Since 2016 she lives in Baden-Baden, Germany.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=26 September 2020 |title=Sopranistin Pervin Chakar singt "Qimil" von Musa Anter |url=https://anfdeutsch.com/kultur/sopranistin-pervin-chakar-singt-qimil-von-musa-anter-21807 |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Firat News Agency |language=de}}</ref>
=== 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 massacre in which several Kurdish villagers were killed and mistaken for militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2020-10-13 |title=Pervin Chakar Has to Go to Europe to Sing Opera in Kurdish |url=https://english.alsiasi.com/pervin-chakar-has-to-go-to-europe-to-sing-opera-in-kurdish/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Alsiasi |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209123228/https://english.alsiasi.com/pervin-chakar-has-to-go-to-europe-to-sing-opera-in-kurdish/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> From then on, she learned songs from Kurdish singers and became a strong supporter of performing in the Kurdish language<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sela |first=Hîwa|date=1 July 2017 |title=Pervin Chaka: Melding opera with traditional Kurdish music |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/01072019 |website=Rudaw}}</ref> also having composed a melody to the Kurdish poem Qimil by Musa Anter.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" />
In 2022, Chakar claimed that her concert at Mardin Artuklu University, which opened the first Kurdish course in Turkey,<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkey university begins country's first Kurdish course |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15341340 |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=BBC News|date=17 October 2011}}</ref> was cancelled because there were Kurdish songs in her repertoire.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Kurdish diva brokenhearted but resolute in face of language discrimination in Turkey|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/08/kurdish-diva-brokenhearted-resolute-face-language-discrimination-turkey |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=Al-Monitor}}{{subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-08-02 |title=Turkish university silences soprano over Kurdish songs |url=https://kurdishvoice.gr/en/turkish-university-silences-soprano-over-kurdish-songs/ |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=Kurdishvoice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-08 |title=Award-winning opera singer barred from taking stage at university over Kurdish songs |url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/award-winning-opera-singer-pervin-chakar-barred-from-taking-stage-at-turkish-university-over-kurdish-songs-news-61089 |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=Gazete Duvar|language=en}}</ref> A former lawmaker of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Abdurrahman Kurt attempted to weigh with the University's rector, but was not able to change their mind.<ref name=":5" /> The Turkish daily ''Yeni Şafak'' claimed that the reason given for the cancellation was that she wanted a ticketed event in a hall meant for free concerts.<ref name="ap1">{{cite news |title='Kürtçe repertuvarım nedeniyle engellendim' diyerek Mardin Artuklu Üniversitesi'ni hedef gösteren Pervin Çakar'ın ücretli konseri için ücretsiz salon talep ettiği ortaya çıktı|trans-title='I was blocked by my Kurdish repertoire,' and it turned out that Pervin Çakar, who targeted Mardin Artuklu University, demanded a free hall for her paid concert|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/gundem/kurtce-repertuvarim-nedeniyle-engellendim-diyerek-mardin-artuklu-universitesini-hedef-gosteren-pervin-cakarin-ucretli-konseri-icin-ucretsiz-salon-talep-ettigi-ortaya-cikti-3841231 |access-date=3 August 2022 |work=Yeni Şafak|date=1 August 2022 |language=tr}}</ref> Students that went to a Spring festival organized by the same university posted videos of artists singing in Kurdish, contradicting her claim.<ref name="ap1" />
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakar, Pervin}} Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Kurdish-language Turkish singers Category:Kurdish women singers Category:Turkish operatic sopranos Category:People from Mardin Category:Gazi University alumni Category:Turkish expatriates in Germany