Umay Acar-Sümer is a Turkish singer and composer based in Hampshire, UK. Having completed an MA in Medieval Studies and MMus in Music Composition at Royal Holloway, Umay draws inspiration from medieval literature and history in her writing. She is the writer and composer of ‘Beowulf the Musical’, a two-act musical made up of 35 song based on the medieval epic poem Beowulf. ‘Beowulf the Musical’ premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2024 with Umay playing the role of Freawaru; the musical is now set to release an album with many of the original cast and orchestra members reprising their roles. Umay’s writing influences include late medieval authors like Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Thomas Malory and Chrétien de Troyes as well as anonymous poems from the Anglo-Saxon period such as The Wanderer, The Battle of Maldon and The Seafarer. Musically she is inspired by contemporary composers such as Alan Menken, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lin Manuel Miranda and Anais Mitchell as well as the works of Handel, Verdi, Mozart and Strauss. Umay is currently working on her next musical; a sapphic fairytale about a girl with a magical harp teaming up with a disgraced knight to defeat a dragon.