Singer-songwriter, dancer and actress, Irem was born in Istanbul, Turkey.
She studied dance at Elmhurst Ballet School, perfected at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, and then graduated from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she perfected her skills in theatre, radio arts, television, direction, music and singing.
Irem then moved to Argentina where she began a prolific career in theatre, television, film and music. She assimilated techniques of voice in traditional song and traditional dances, and zapateo (Argentine podorythmia). In 2001 Ä°rem created a multidisciplinary work entitled Medea, la voz de la sangre, presented in various venues in Argentina from 2002 to 2005.
Irem travelled across South America with multiple contacts.
Having won the respect of several emblematic figures of Argentina, Irem was invited by the famous Mercedes Sosa to participate in her concerts (En Familia in 1994 and Al despertar in 1998). Journalist Pablo Gorlero, in his book ‘Teatro Musical 1 Broadway’ (2013), mentions Irem as "one of the personalities who strongly influenced the Argentine art scene”.
After settling in Montreal in 2007, she founded the Irem Bekter Quintet, performed on various stages, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and released her first album, Primero. She also acted in theatre productions, and conceived and interpreted Vertige en 4 temps, a musical show inspired by the four great cultures that shape her life.
Starting in 2017, Irem immersed herself in the repertoire of “chanson québécoise” (Quebec songs) and surrounded herself with local songwriters. This approach allowed her to unite diverse sounds that reflect her rich background, while beginning to explore her own talents as a lyricist and composer in her album Je suis ici.
Having performed the repertoire of her four countries throughout Quebec and Ontario, her forthcoming record will showcase her personal identity as a songwriter, fusing disparate elements of all four places into one musical whole.