Zîlan Hasret Yıldız is a versatile musician and singer who brings together tradition and contemporary expression in a unique way. Zîlan plays a wide range of percussion instruments, including the daf, dayereh, tombak, darbuka and bendir, as well as the lavta (lute). She is also an expressive singer, drawing on Kurdish, Persian and Anatolian musical traditions.
Her family comes from Erzurum in eastern Turkey, whilst she herself was born and raised in Istanbul. In 2014, she moved to Izmir to study mathematics at Dokuz Eylül University. I was there that her musical journey took offe with daf lessons from Sami Hosseini. She has been a member of the Ahura Rhythm Ensemble since 2015. In addition to her performances, Zîlan has been teaching and leading rhythm workshops since 2016. In 2024, she graduated from the State Conservatoire of Ege University. In June this year, she completed cum laude her master’s degree at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam.
Zîlan has performed at leading venues and collaborated with renowned artists and ensembles in countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, France, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey and elsewhere in Europe. Rooted in the Kurdish, Persian and Anatolian musical traditions, she has developed into a passionate percussionist and expressive singer. Her artistic language combines deeply rooted folk elements with contemporary styles.