The singer combines traditional songs with her family's history and her own musical development
On Sunday, October 11, 2026, Maria Kaplan will be a guest at the Atelierhaus Vahle in Darmstadt. The afternoon will focus on Aramaic singing. Between songs, Kaplan will talk about her family, her escape from the Turkish-Syrian border region, and her personal journey back to the language and music of her ancestors.
The event begins at 4 p.m., with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. The evening will combine song and storytelling. A total of seven to ten Aramaic songs will be performed. Maria Kaplan will briefly explain the meaning of each piece. Questions from the audience are welcome during and after the event.
From escape to music
Maria Kaplan was born in 1977 in an Aramaic village near Nisibin on the Turkish-Syrian border. Her family belonged to the Christian Aramaic community of the region. After an attack on her family home, she fled to Germany with them in 1980.
For many years afterward, Kaplan worked in investment banking in Frankfurt. In 2008, she moved to Darmstadt. A phone call from an Aramaic monk in 2013 prompted a trip to the Middle East, which she undertook the following year together with 45 members of the Aramaic community from Wiesbaden.
During this journey, Kaplan discovered a new connection to the songs of her ancestors. Since then, she has dedicated herself to keeping the endangered Aramaic language audible and alive through her music. Her performances have taken her throughout Europe, as well as to Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Most recently, she performed in New York.
Singing and personal stories
During her appearance at the Atelierhaus Vahle, Maria Kaplan also spoke about her family's survival during the attack on her parents' house and about the reprisals that Aramaic Christians in the region were subjected to for decades.
Her own journey from investment banking back to the music and language of her ancestors is also part of the event.
Music in the hospital and on stage
After returning from the Middle East, Kaplan offered meditations for children and adults at the Alice Hospital in Darmstadt. She also sang at patients' bedsides upon request, on a voluntary basis.
In 2019, she participated in the "1st International Symposium on Neuroscience with Music" at the Umweltforum Berlin. There, she presented her paper "Aramaic Songs: Healing Resonance for the Regeneration of the Body." The effects of her singing were examined live and in real time on a test subject.
Maria Kaplan is an internationally renowned Aramaic singer, performing on concert stages as well as in churches and monasteries. Under the name "Afterglow," she also provides end-of-life care, working as a freelance funeral speaker and singer at memorial services.
Event at the Vahle Studio House
Only 50 places are available for the event. Registration is therefore required and can be done via Maria Kaplan's website.
Info:
Maria Kaplan – “The Language That Escaped Oblivion”
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2026
Doors open: 3:30 p.m.
Start: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Atelierhaus Vahle, Schumannstraße 11, Darmstadt
Admission: 30 Euros
Registration: mariakaplan.de
Note: Seating is limited to 50.
