Peradi... A women's ensemble reviving musical heritage with a contemporary spirit and feminist perspective
Since its 2019 founding in Istanbul, Peradi presents polyphonic art transcending traditional performance, rooted in heritage and collective structure elevating interaction, listening, and voice integration.
News Center — The performance of the "Women's Anthem" by the Peradi ensemble reflects their artistic and social vision, as they employ this work as a symbol of global feminist struggle, affirming their commitment to supporting women's issues and their right to a just and free life.
The Peradi ensemble was founded in Istanbul in 2019 as a multilingual, multi-voice women's singing group, bringing together musicians from diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds. The ensemble's artistic vision is rooted in established musical traditions, most notably the polyphonic choir of the Georgian Art House and the Ruhi Su Friends Choir, reflecting its connection to vocal schools that embrace polyphony as both an aesthetic and cognitive practice.
The ensemble approaches polyphony not merely as a technique of vocal harmony but as a creative space where different vocal identities coexist and interact. In Peradi's conception, music transcends collective melodic performance to become a form of shared thinking, collective creativity, and artistic transformation, where singing is seen as a participatory process that contributes to producing new meaning shaped by the interaction and integration of voices.
Peradi operates within a collective structure that develops musical pieces through an interactive process beginning with an intuitive meeting among members, then gradually evolving through collaborative work and vocal coordination into an artistic formulation expressing the ensemble's identity. Within this framework, differing perspectives are seen as a structural element enriching the creative process, not as a source of conflict.
Approaching a single piece from multiple emotional and musical angles contributes to deepening and strengthening expression. This diversity allows for the formation of broader vocal and meaningful layers. Mutual listening, giving space to others, and stepping back when necessary are fundamental pillars of Peradi's musical production philosophy, reflecting their commitment to a participatory model based on respecting individual voices within an integrated collective fabric.
The ensemble presents a self-conception defining itself as a community that thinks and transforms collectively, not merely a group that sings. Through its polyphonic structure, Peradi not only produces musical work but also crystallizes a participatory mode of being on stage, based on the living interaction between voices and experiences.
In this context, the ensemble chooses to perform the "Women's Anthem" in French, emphasizing its historical symbolism as one of the most prominent feminist anthems since the 1970s. The anthem expresses a long path of struggle women have waged against various forms of violence, enslavement, and murder around the world. Its collective phrases, such as the call to rise up and break barriers, have become central slogans in contemporary feminist discourse.
The ensemble indicates that their performance of this anthem stems from their desire to be a supportive voice for women raising their demands for a just and equal life, amid escalating discriminatory discourses and practices. Peradi affirms its vision of a world where women can live freely and practice creativity, stressing that women's right to self-determination is an inalienable right, and that the struggle for women's rights, especially working women, remains an ongoing necessity.