Derya Yıldırım is a German singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer whose work bridges Anatolian folk traditions with contemporary sounds. Born in Hamburg in 1993 and raised in Veddel, she began her musical path early, learning piano, guitar, oud, bağlama, and saxophone before studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
As a multi-instrumentalist deeply rooted in the heritage of the bağlama, Derya Yıldırım reimagines the music of her Anatolian ancestors with a modern voice. Singing in Turkish, she draws from folk, pop, and psych-rock influences to weave new emotional geographies that speak across generations and cultures.
She performs both solo and with her ensemble Grup Şimşek, a project known for fusing Anatolian melodies with global grooves and improvisation. Beyond the stage, she is active as a composer, educator, and jury member, sharing her knowledge and presence within the growing movement of diasporic artists redefining what “tradition” can sound like today.