Her father who had studied classical Turkish singing in Turkey had left the country in the 1960s for political reasons.
[1] Gürbaca first studied art history, literature and theatre science at the Free University of Berlin without completing it.
[6] Gürbaca was winner of the Ring Award [de] competition in 2000; subsequently she directed Puccini's Turandot at the Graz Opera.
In 2024 Gürbaca directed Halévy's La Juive at the Oper Frankfurt, set in medieval times but she exposed antisemitism as actuality.
The choir, prepared by Tilman Michael, played a decisive role as both Jewish congregation and Christian crowd in dynamic movement.