Mardin’s multilingual music heritage kept alive at academy

MARDİN

The multilingual music culture of Mardin, regarded as a symbol of coexistence among different faiths and communities, is being preserved at the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality Art Academy.

Operating under the municipality’s Youth and Sports Services Department, the academy offers courses in instruments such as violin, piano, bağlama, guitar and tambourine, teaching around 3,000 children and young people each year.

In addition to the free courses, instructors and artists at the academy perform songs that are at risk of being forgotten.

A choir formed by musicians from different linguistic and religious backgrounds blends Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac songs, maintaining the city’s multilingual musical heritage and keeping it for future generations. The 15-member choir performs at special events and various occasions.

“Mardin is a multicultural, multilingual and multi-faith city,” said Doğan Ağalday, head of the Youth and Sports Services Department.

“People in this region have made great efforts to preserve the cultures passed down from the past. Local artists in Mardin have used Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac in their music. The common point of all these languages is music. Through our workshops with local instructors, we are trying to keep this culture alive. In music, there is no difference in language, religion or color. Love, affection and tolerance are the same in all languages. We are trying to sustain this shared aspect of music,” he said.

Syriac musician Corc Görülmez, a member of the choir, said he has been involved in music in the city for about 20 years and has been performing at the academy for 12 years.

“We create music in four languages, Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac. We are trying to keep our culture alive. People from different ethnic backgrounds have lived together in peace here for centuries, and this is reflected in our music. Our goal is to spread this culture and tolerance to the whole world,” he said.

Hüseyin Kervancıoğlu, also a choir member and a violin instructor, noted that songs in multiple languages have long been part of the city’s musical tradition.

“At the Art Academy, we aim to preserve and teach both local music as well as Western and Turkish music. Mardin is a multilingual and multi-faith city, and this richness is reflected in its music. As a team, we strive to sustain this culture and pass it on to children and young people,” he said.