Artists | Sakina Teyna

Sakina Teyna

Sakina was born in the small town of Varto to a Kurdish-Alevi family and grew up listening to deyiş and storytelling. During her school years, she was a member of youth and amateur music bands and choirs. In the early nineties, she began to explore the Kurdish singing tradition at the Center for Kurdish Culture in Istanbul. In politically turbulent times, she paused her public artistic work, like other Kurdish artists, in order to work in the resistance.

In 2006, she arrived in Austria as a political refugee and began to go public with her music again. After regaining her freedom to travel, she began to take her music to other European countries. During this intensive creative phase, Sakina released her first solo album ROYÊ MI. Together with pianist Nazê Îşxan and violinist Nurê Dilovanî, she founded the group TRIO MARA in 2011. In symbiosis with Sakina's voice, the female trio rearranged classical Kurdish music pieces with piano and violin, blending traditional elements with modern formats. The group recorded their first album DERI/BEHIND THE DOORS live and received extremely positive reviews in Kurdistan and Turkey after its release under the Ahenk Müzik label. Trio Mara was part of the catalog of the NRW KULTUR Secretariat in 2015 and 2016.

In 2013, she began collaborating with Anadolu Quartet. They toured together and released the album KÖPRÜ/THE BRIDGE again under the Ahenk Müzik label, which enjoyed outstanding international critical acclaim. In 2015, Sakina founded the jazz band Sakina & Friends in Vienna together with musicians from Austria, Spain, Iran and Turkey. In 2019, the group recorded the album “Longing/Bendewari/Intizar”, followed by tours.

In her artistic activities, Sakina Teyna is committed to women's rights and human rights, topics that characterize her artistic work. Her music invites you to experience the richness of the encounter between different cultures, languages and melodies. The songs she sings are not only written in the three Kurdish dialects Kurmanji, Zazaki and Sorani, but also in Turkish, Armenian, Persian and Azerbaijani - their common denominator is their multilingualism.

Sakina has taken part in numerous projects as a soloist. She lives and works in Vienna.

Sakina was born in the small town of Varto to a Kurdish-Alevi family and grew up listening to deyiş and storytelling. During her school years, she was a member of youth and amateur music bands and choirs. In the early nineties, she began to explore the Kurdish singing tradition at the Center for Kurdish Culture in Istanbul. In politically turbulent times, she paused her public artistic work, like other Kurdish artists, in order to work in the resistance.

In 2006, she arrived in Austria as a political refugee and began to go public with her music again. After regaining her freedom to travel, she began to take her music to other European countries. During this intensive creative phase, Sakina released her first solo album ROYÊ MI. Together with pianist Nazê Îşxan and violinist Nurê Dilovanî, she founded the group TRIO MARA in 2011. In symbiosis with Sakina's voice, the female trio rearranged classical Kurdish music pieces with piano and violin, blending traditional elements with modern formats. The group recorded their first album DERI/BEHIND THE DOORS live and received extremely positive reviews in Kurdistan and Turkey after its release under the Ahenk Müzik label. Trio Mara was part of the catalog of the NRW KULTUR Secretariat in 2015 and 2016.

In 2013, she began collaborating with Anadolu Quartet. They toured together and released the album KÖPRÜ/THE BRIDGE again under the Ahenk Müzik label, which enjoyed outstanding international critical acclaim. In 2015, Sakina founded the jazz band Sakina & Friends in Vienna together with musicians from Austria, Spain, Iran and Turkey. In 2019, the group recorded the album “Longing/Bendewari/Intizar”, followed by tours.

In her artistic activities, Sakina Teyna is committed to women's rights and human rights, topics that characterize her artistic work. Her music invites you to experience the richness of the encounter between different cultures, languages and melodies. The songs she sings are not only written in the three Kurdish dialects Kurmanji, Zazaki and Sorani, but also in Turkish, Armenian, Persian and Azerbaijani - their common denominator is their multilingualism.

Sakina has taken part in numerous projects as a soloist. She lives and works in Vienna.