GİZEM ŞİMŞEK

Gizem Şimşek born and raised in İstanbul is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer of Arab Turkish and Scottish descent. She started singing at the age of five and studied cello until the age of sixteen. She later moved to Switzerland, due to religious and political pressure.

 

Her debut single as a solo artist "One" was nominated in Switzerland for M4Music 2025  under "out of genre".

Fascinated with the nature-spirit connection through sound, she makes her own field recordings and is a bird enthusiast.
Her repertoire ranges from western classical to eastern music, world folk, turkish folk, improvisational levantine avant folk and own compositions. Her sound carries a mix of ethereal ambient, field recordings, improvisations, drones and blending her multicultural background in her own style of singing technique cultivated over the years. Her works draw their inspiration mostly from political, environmental and spiritual matters.

She develops music for theatre and live performance with her two trios, TRËİ and Sere Serpe.

Her new solo project under the name Siptamiya - which means "liquid" in the Hitite language - is a slow cooking project. Siptamiya is a creative process that takes as much time as it needs in order to stay true to itself and not fall into the ever demanding atmosphere of speed around us. 

She no longer publishes on Spotify. Her new music is on Bandcamp and other platforms.

Gizem has collaborated with several artists, ensembles and theatres, such as Söngfjelagið, Theater Tempus Fugit,

Choeur3, Neumarkt, Fimmene, ensemble liberté, Amal, Junger Kammerchor Basel, Conrapunkt Chor, Texte und Töne, Kopuz Oda Orkestrası

Currently based in Basel, Switzerland.