Press
The following concert was the album launch of singer Sakîna Têyna, who grew up in a Kurdish Alevi family, left Turkey for political reasons and now lives in Vienna, along with the rest of her very international and excellent band. Her new album, Sûret, is coincidentally released on Dreyer Gaido (Michael Dreyer’s label) and the wonderful musical arrangements are by Iranian guitarist Mahan Mirarab who had his own headline show earlier in the week. Centre-stage was Têyna whose strikingly powerful voice captivated the audience along with her stories, in particular about the album’s title-track, a Kurdish word meaning face or photo. While Têyna confessed that most of the songs are very sad as they generally reflected the plight of the Kurdish people, there was also plenty of joy in evidence onstage.
Morgenland Festival 2026 in Osnabrück, Germany
June 9, 2026 // Jo Frost
A distinctive, expressive voice and a sophisticated arrangement that, despite its meticulous attention to detail, leaves ample room for spontaneity. A warm instrumental sound, characterized by string instruments and, above all, the acoustic guitar. Songs full of painful, yet also defiant and life-affirming intensity.
Silent tales, dark sonnets
(in German)
June 23, 2026
Kurdish singer Sakina Teyna celebrates the purifying power of music – and the musical tradition of Kurdistan.
It was a special evening that marked the opening of the Imago Dei Festival in 2022: New artistic director Nadja Kayali had invited 50 singers and musicians from diverse backgrounds. On the stage of the Klangraum Krems Minoritenkirche, they performed together in a way that redefined commonality and difference – not separately, but intertwining their songs. A captivating energy developed, rarely experienced. One of the acts that evening was the Kurdish singer Sakina Teyna, who now lives in Vienna. She has been invited back again this year for the evening "Kurdistan! Kurdophone feat. Sakina Teyna & Salah Ammo."
Only my voice
(in German)
March 2, 2023 // by Nina Schedlmayer
Sakina Teyna's musical work is shaped by the history and resistance of the Kurdish people. In conversation with music researchers Tessa Balser-Schuhmann and Anja Brunner at the Music and Minorities Research Center (MMRC), the musician talks about growing up in Kurdistan/Turkey, the special significance of music for Kurds, and why she doesn't want to be perceived solely as a "Kurdish musician."
I have a voice and I raise it
stimme #126
On the Trails of a Banned Language / Dengbêjî
September 23, 2020 // Sakina Teyna
The tradition of oral expression known as a dengbêjî, the job of a dengbêj – a ‘soundteller’– lies at the foundation of traditional Kurdish music and is the only path to survival of a language facing extinction. For Kurds, being deprived of any written sources, this poetic artful style of lyrics and rhythm by the dengbêj was a unique method of preserving their language and culture to this day.
With this beautiful album, we find ourselves at the confluence of three emotions: the superb and captivating voice of Sakina, which immediately enthralls us; the powerful and engaging melodies; and finally, the emotion inevitably stirred within us by the history and current situation of the Kurdish people, still searching for a land to establish their nation. In short, we are given the opportunity to listen, with great refinement and subtlety, to all the hopes, thus far dashed, of a country dreamed of many times but still yet to be born.
SAKINA – Royê mi (Songs from Kurdistan)
(in French)
August 21, 2014 // Frédéric Gerchambeau
Bendewari/Intizar/Longing
(in German)
Hande Sağlam
On her 2019 album "Bendewari/Intizar/Longing," Sakina Teyna sings in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Persian, and Turkish. Five languages spoken and sung in these five neighboring countries.
Sakina Teyna sees multilingual singing as an opportunity to overcome barriers and build bridges. Her songs aim to show how different we all are, and accepting our differences is the prerequisite for being able to communicate with one another.