Fîdel Kılıç

Fîdel Kılıç is a vocalist, composer, trumpet player, filmmaker and ethnomusicologist who was born and raised in Mardin, on the Turkish-Syrian border. A OneBeat 2014 Fellow at Montalvo Arts Center, co-leader of OneBeat Istanbul 2016, and music director of BOYA 2016 in Belgium, Morocco and Turkey (Erasmus+ / Youth in action Program), Kilic was also founder of Jiyan (2018) project, winner of the AEIF award by the US State Department. As a performer of acclaimed folk music band Kardes Turkuler (Ballads of Solidarity), he shared a stage with a diverse range of artists in Turkish, Kurdish, Balkan, Armenian, and Arab folk; Turkish pop; and American folk. His first short film Nobody was selected as a finalist at the 28th IAFF in 2021. His screenplay for his short film Knar slated for 2024 was awarded a grant by the European Union’s Think Civic initiative. An Ethnomusicology Master/PhD student at UCSB and a UCSB Middle East Ensemble singer, Kılıç studies the musical heritage of North Kurdistan.