Masters of Anatolia: Ayfer Vardar & Feryal Öney Female Troubadours

Next November they will come to the Netherlands with the project 'Female Troubadours' as part of the new season of the series 'Masters of Anatolia'. Ayfer Vardar represents the youngest generation of traditional Turkish stars, Feryal Öney is just half a generation ahead of them, and together they cover a wide audience across all generations.

The makers did not just go back to the heyday of Ottoman culture for inspiration. At that time, women regularly made music together, both in the highest circles and in the smallest villages, music for weddings and parties.

But even then, all this was not new. In ancient times, as we can see from vases found in Turkey, women were already fully involved in musical life, and the influences continue to seep into the music of Anatolia after thousands of years.

But Feryal Öney and Ayfer Vardar also incorporate more modern influences into their music.

In their younger years they listened at home to their parents' records and cassettes with Aşık Mahsuni Şerif, Aşık Davud Sulari, Neşet Ertaş, Aşık Gülabi and Aşık Veysel. All men, but they then also focused on female heroines such as Sakine Bacı, Fatma Kamile, Seher Abdal, Güzide Ana, Şah Turna, while also citing the feminist pioneering work of Sezen Aksu as an example. Thus, it is hard to imagine a better testament to the vitality and diversity of Anatolian music to this day.