Sakîna Têyna / vocal
Nazê Îşxan / piano
Nurê Di̇lovanî / violin

Formed by three Kurdish women of Alevi and Yazidi backgrounds from Turkey and Armenia, Trio Mara singing songs in Kurdish, Armenian and other Middle Eastern languages. Trio Mara draws their repertoire mostly from the rich treasure of traditional Kurdish songs and expresses these songs in their own particular way by contrasting classical and contemporary music. Truly a memorable evening of rich musical experience awaits.
Trio Mara believes that music expresses the desire for the love of peace, a desire that sadly can not be expressed so easily in this age. The Trio wants their music to overcome the borders, make their audience passionately feel the music of a region that is considered to be the cradle of humanity.

Originally coming from an Alevi Kurdish family, Sakîna is a self-taught singer. She began her musical career in the 90s as a member of the Mesopotamian Culture Centre (MKM), a Kurdish cultural centre based in Istanbul. However, the artistic members of MKM suffered various forms of oppression from government for their activities for promoting Kurdish culture and language. She eventually had to flee Turkey in the 90s due to immense pressures from the government. She continued her work in Armenia, Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan before claiming asylum in Europe. She is currently living in Vienna and views her music as a way of portraying the life of people in the Kurdish regions.

Nazê is a Yazidi Kurd from Armenia and currently lives in Germany. She began playing piano at a very early age. She was graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Krasnodar as a concertmaster and music teacher. As a passionate Kurdish musician, she wanted to introduce Kurdish music to a wider non-Kurdish audience during the concerts so she started performing Kurdish music on stages since the 90s, first in Russia and then Europe. She also arranged traditional Kurdish melodies for piano and published the first Kurdish music book for piano called Evina Kurdistane - Bona Pianoforte in 2004.


Nurê is a Yazidi Kurd from Armenia and currently lives in Germany. Coming from a musician family (also Nazê’s first-degree cousin), she is solo violinist who also works as a teacher for the violin and piano. She received her professional education at the conservatories in Moscow, Yerevan, and Frankfurt. Her rich repertoire is comprised of classical and folk music as well as soundtracks and also crossover performances with some of the leading orchestras including New Philharmonics in Frankfurt. She collaborates with a variety of renowned Kurdish musicians from all around Kurdistan and performs as a solo violinist during live concerts. She is also teaching at the music department of the University of Cologne in Germany.

Organised by ROJDA DENG LTD as part of Şevên Kilamên Kurdî (Nights of Kurdish Songs) series.