Live at The Lock-Up presents a solo performance from one of Europe’s most exciting genre-blenders

German-Turkish singer and bağlama musician Derya Yıldırım joins us at The Lock-Up in Muloobinba/Newcastle for an exclusive solo performance as part of an international touring season, with concerts spanning WOMADelaide, Golden Plains, Melbourne Recital Centre, Sydney Opera House, Auckland, Europe, and the United States.

An internationally recognised musician and leading figure in contemporary Anatolian music, Derya Yıldırım is part of a global movement that sustains traditional Anatolian folk music in contemporary practice. Together with her group Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, Yıldırım is part of a global movement that blends traditional storytelling and acoustic instrumentation with contemporary genres and personal, modern narratives.

Expect tender, hypnotic music featuring bağlama-driven folk, breathtaking vocals and an improvisational sound that speaks of longing and resistance, migration and identity, and the stories that must be told. 

“Yıldırım is a tremendously emotional presence” — Pop Matters

Exclusive Muloobinba/Newcastle solo performance
Wed, 18 Mar 2026

Bar open from 6.30pm
Exhibition A soft space to stand open for viewing
Duration 60 mins

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Accessibility

The Lock-Up offers wheelchair access at the main entrance, accessible amenities, and designated disability street parking.

Limited seating is available, however, if you require a seat and there isn’t one available, please let a staff member know.

ABOUT DERYA YILDIRIM

With her voice and bağlama, Derya Yıldırım brings traditional Anatolian folk music into innovative new forms, performing worldwide. She studied at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg (2013–2016), before completing her bağlama degree with Taner Akyol at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2020. Since 2024, she has taught bağlama at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg.

Alongside her internationally based group Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, she has released several albums blending Anatolian folk songs with elements of psychedelia, jazz and soul. Their third album, Yarın Yoksa (“If There Is No Tomorrow”), produced in New York by Leon Michels (El Michels Affair), was released on Big Crown Records in 2025 and celebrated with a concert at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall, featuring Ensemble Resonanz.

As a solo artist, Yıldırım explores the expressive and technical range of the bağlama, presenting Anatolian folk music in concert spaces where it is rarely heard. She also works across interdisciplinary projects, film scoring and sound art, highlighting the bağlama as a bridge between tradition and contemporary expression.

Her work has been recognised with nominations for the German Music Prize Polytone and the VIA! Award.

Derya Yıldırım joins us at The Lock-Up during her solo creative development period through our Artist in Residence Program 2026.