One of the most original voices of the alternative scene, Dilara Sakpınar, also known as Lara Di Lara, performed her much-loved songs on the evening of Friday, March 11 at Kundura Sahne. The artist, whom we adore for her enchanting voice and dazzling stage presence, became the first guest of our A–to–Z questionnaire.

MIND – It lies not in age but in the head.
FATHER – Someone who loves their child unconditionally and purely
COURAGE – Letting your desire take a step forward
WORKING – Reinforcing what you do, multiplying it and going deeper into it.
BALANCE – The heart and the mind holding hands
LEGEND – Mermaids exist.
BELL JAR – A thought bubble
PAST – A diary of what has been lived
STORY – Something shared that takes shape differently for each person
LIGHT – Rejoicing in someone else’s happiness
İSTANBUL – A strange state of being
GESTURE – What softens plain communication
FEAR – Something everyone has in some way, even if they say they don’t
FLAVOR – The palette of life
MELİH CEVDET ANDAY – A tree with many branches
INTENTION – A spell that changes with the situation
ORAYA DOĞRU – Growing up
DEATH – The hole in your pocket
POP – Whistling
COLOR – Wholeness
SEZEN AKSU – That is the day we will be spent
POETRY – The concrete form of the abstract, the cry of depth
VACATION – Swinging on a swing
FORGETTING – Something we suppose happens so the brain won’t get tired
BEING SAD – A temporary current that helps us understand better
PROMISE – A presentation file that mostly never comes true
LIFE – The dream itself
TIME – The endless cycle of moments

WHO IS SHE?
Singer, songwriter and musician Dilara Sakpınar – known by her stage name Lara Di Lara – grew up in a family steeped in art and music as the daughter of the renowned conductor Ender Sakpınar and the painter and writer Leyla Sakpınar. After graduating from the Music Department of İstanbul Bilgi University, she began her music career with the band 123. With the band she gave many concerts in Türkiye and abroad and recorded four albums. In 2015, turning to a solo career with a music project she named Lara Di Lara, she released her first studio album, ‘Oraya Doğru’. In 2017 she brought listeners, on the Sony Music label, the 16-track album ‘Hazineler İçindesin’, for which she wrote the lyrics and music of every song except for a poem by Melih Cevdet Anday. The artist describes this album with the words “from my eyes, from within me, from my head, from my voice; about what is happening in the earth, the air and the water.” Having performed at Türkiye’s leading concert venues and festivals and toured Europe, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria, the artist performed a symphonic interpretation of her album, conducted by her father, with the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Symphony Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra and İstanbul State Symphony Orchestra. Together with Levni, she launched the Vienna-based music project Alike Places, which works across a broad spectrum from the trip hop of the ’90s to neo-soul; its six-track EP ‘Room’ was released by the Austrian label Well Gedacht. In mid-2018 she performed the folk song ‘Su Ver Leylam’, with lyrics and music by Bedri Çağlayan, and it attracted great interest. That same year she was the opening act for Nick Cave’s concert. Then, in 2020, she released the album ‘Sudaki Çığlık’, which, focusing on being suppressed, being oppressed and suppressing, she once again created out of her own nature and her human needs. Last year the artist released the singles ‘Bekledim’, ‘Çok Yakınken’, ‘Bedeninin Her Bir Kıvrımında’, ‘Nefesim Kesilene Kadar’ and ‘Yanında’, and that same year she recorded, together with the successful Turkish rap artist Kamufle, the EP ‘Denge’.