Two concerts as part of Szene Istanbul. Featuring the FEM Hinterhofchor and the women’s ensemble NARÎNÊ

The FEM Hinterhofchor is a choral project based in Duisburg. It is known for its open pop-up concerts as well as for its work from post-migrant and queer perspectives. The choir is directed by Sema Yalçın-Atik. The choir sees itself as an open community space and a venue for transgenerational exchange. A central component of its artistic work is interactive concert formats in which the audience is actively involved in the musical performance. The singers of the FEM Backyard Choir perform traditional songs from Anatolia in polyphonic arrangements. The pieces address the realities of women’s lives and tell women’s stories. Part of the repertoire includes songs written and composed by women.

NARÎNÊ is a newly founded women’s ensemble that brings together the voices and instruments of women from various diaspora communities. Their roots lie in conflict-ridden regions where women’s musical expression is deeply rooted as a powerful form of resistance. These musicians came together in Cologne and perform folk songs, art songs, and their own compositions—in Kurdish, Turkish, and Armenian, among other languages. This music came to Germany through the migration histories of their parents and grandparents, as well as through their own experiences of migration, and tells stories of shared pain, a longing for home, but also universal love stories and the hope for a better life.

Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.