2 Syrian sisters play Kurdish folklore music in KRI
ERBIL, KRI, Iraq (North Press) – Norshin and Perwin Salih, two Syrian girls, play Kurdish folklore music in a restaurant in Erbil. They loved music at young ages and played it while they are refugees.
The two girls continued to do so while their journey as refugees from the city of Kobani, northern Syria, to Turkey and the Kurdistan Region in Iraq (KRI).
Norshin loves to play guitar. She told North Press, “I began learning music when I was 10 years old. I frequently went to the cultural center in Kobani and learned the basics of music there. I started playing guitar, but in 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) attacked Kobani, so I moved with my family to Turkey, then we settled in the KRI.”
Norshin wanted to evolve in music, so she attended a music school in Turkey. She studied about the Kurdish culture for four years and learned Kurdish and classical music. “In this school, I mastered playing the violin and methods of singing,” she said.
Norshin and Parwin combine Kurdish and classical music together. “We wanted to perform the Kurdish folklore music in a modern style by playing guitar, violin, and Santur. We added Arabic singing as well,” Norshin added.
Almost a year ago, the family came to Erbil, and the girls started singing on stage in front of an audience. “It was one of the hardest experiences. It needed constant planning and training. That is why my sister and I train every day. We do not see music as only a hobby but a source of income here in Erbil as well,” she noted.
Parwin loves to play the santur. “It is a Persian musical instrument played by Kurds in eastern Kurdistan. I wanted to connect playing santur with Kurdish music in Rojava. It was unusual to me, so I picked it. I wanted to play music with a different instrument,” she said.
Parwin talked about her musical message, saying, “Unfortunately, youth nowadays focus on shallow topics that share nothing in common with our society. We see that the Kurdish folklore music started to be marginalized, that is why my sister Norshin and I seek to revive the Kurdish music in a modern way to attract the youth.”
The two Syrian sisters believe that music is the language that all people can understand. It conveys the pain and suffering of people in war, brings back beautiful memories about their past and calls them to hope and trust in a joyous future.