Tara Jaff

Tara Jaff, born in 1958 in Hewlêr, is a harpist and singer who found a new home for Kurdish melody on the Celtic harp. Living in London since the late 1970s, she has adapted kilams, folk songs and classical poetry to an instrument Kurdish music never had, creating a sound that is both ancient and entirely her own. Her concerts and recordings occupy a particular niche: the meditative, chamber side of Kurdish music, far from the wedding floor, where the tradition meets early-music and world-music audiences.