Behiye (Be) Suren (Fearless Voices)

Behiye (Be) was born on Dharug Country, Parramatta, NSW.

Be is engaged to coach youth in voice, choral and performance skills with her ‘Fearless Voices’ workshops. Be is also a qualified music therapist and is engaged by Warraan Widji Arts to deliver music therapy to toddlers and children of all ages as required.

Her ability to quickly establish a rapport with the children and youth has been essential to the growth of their self-efficacy.

Be assists in the delivery of song writing workshops providing advice on rhythm and melody appropriate to the syntax of the Wayilwan language in consultation with Aunty Beth Wright. Her experience and skill in cross-cultural song writing and composition in languages other than English makes Be an invaluable member of the team. Be demonstrates high cultural capability skills.

Behiye is a Sydney-based singer/songwriter. Her original fusion folk music (in English and Turkish) weaves the rhythms and melodies of her two homelands (Australia/Turkey) with earthy lyrics about love, identity and ancestry.

Her Australian Arts Council funded album To Home Seas was written and recorded across continents (in New Zealand, Cairns, Istanbul, Sydney) with the support of talented global musicians.

‘Nenemin Ninnisi’ (Grandma’s Lullaby), the first track of the album, tells a heart-opening story of belonging, from the motherland Anatolia, to the Australian rainforest. The song was arranged and recorded by one of Turkey’s masters of folk music and pioneer of the fretless guitar, Erkan Ogur.

Behiye was a 2019 delegate at theAustralian Women in Music Awards, representing diverse women in Australian music, and has performed her music at international venues and cultural events (such as the ANZAC Centenary in Turkey in the presence of King Charles and Harry) and for Russell Crowe (on his Istanbul film set of the Water Diviner). Her debut EP ‘Season of Plums’was featured on SBS/FBI radio shows and in Time Out magazine.

Be’s podcast interview re the power of music to reawaken Wayilwan language can be listened to here

Learn more about Be’s artistic creativity and music therapy practice