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• Şevket Akıncı •
Şevket Akıncı, born in 1972 in Turkey, is a guitarist, composer, arranger and improviser. He has studied composition at the berklee college of music. after releasing his album uçurumda açan as a songwriter in 1996, he moved from traditional jazz (neşet ruacan trio), free improvisation and free jazz (ıslak köpek, century, dead country, holy ghost) and fusion (lifeline, weed) towards Turkish classical music (elektronik kumpanya) and several other musical genres, taking part in projects (Şirin Soysal’s, Ruşen Alkar’s, Öykü Aras, albums, Mugwump, Sputnik Sweetheart, Mutant, Konjo) that blended arts such as literature, dance, cinema, architecture, theatre, the plastic arts, painting and many more with music. A frequent participant in free improv festivals in Europe, the United States and Japan, Şevket Akıncı has played with renowned artists in the genre such as Ernst Reijseger, Bob Moses, Butch Morris, Tristan Honsinger, Michael Moore, Tim Hodgkinson, Anthony Coleman, Mark O’Leary, Huun-Huur-Tu, Eugene Chadbourne, Luc Ex, Wolter Wierbos, Ute Wasserman, Sussan Deyhim, Axel Dörner, Tomeka Reid, Jun Kawasaki, Aydın Esen, Nick Mazarella and Le Quan Ninh. Şevket Akıncı has over twenty albums to his name.
• Alper Maral •
Alper Maral is a composer and musicologist focusing rather on literal and political connotations in music. He has teaching and administrative posts in several universities; either as a composer, performer or lecturer, he contributed numerous international events—festivals, conferences, etc., founded, co-founded and directed academic or artistic associations, including YTU Electronic Music Festival, Mediterranean Contemporary Music Days and Asian Composers’ Festival; got international commissions, prizes and residences.
• Oğuz Büyükberber •
Turkish born Amsterdam based clarinetist, improviser/composer Oğuz Büyükberber’s work stands on the crossroads of contemporary composition, improvisation, Turkish music, and jazz. He studied bass clarinet with Harry Sparnaay at Amsterdam Conservatory and took composition lessons from Theo Loevendie. He has performed in major festivals all over Europe and collaborated with with Butch Morris, Craig Harris, John Zorn, Gerry Hemingway, Simon Nabatov, Jim Black, Nils Wogram, Claudio Puntin, Armand Angster and Hüsnü Şenlendirici to name a few. His compositions and improvisations can be heard on over 50 CD’s including releases on ECM and Blue Note. As a composer, Büyükberber received commissions from Dresdner Simfoniker, Kairos string Quartet, Axys Ensemble, Spinifex Orchestra, DuoX, Shacke, Istanbul Clarinet Choir, Basklarinetfestijn and a Carte Blanche from Bimhuis. He also wrote a large repertoire of partly composed improvisational structures for his own groups. Also holding another degree in fine arts, he incorporates his own visual art into musical performances and finds new ways to use live-electronics.
https://www.oguzbuyukberber.com
• Tolga Tüzün •
Tolga Tüzün (Ph.D.) is an electro-acoustic music composer and a performer. He started taking classical piano lessons at the age of eleven. After receiving his BA in Political Sciences, he studied composition with Pieter Snapper and Marc Wingate and advanced orchestration with Ilhan Usmanbas and Hasan Ucarsu at the Istanbul Technical University, Center for Advanced Music Studies.During his studies for a Ph.D. in Music Composition at CUNY Graduate Center, he studied composition with David Olan and Tristan Murail in New York, and with Philippe Leroux in Paris.He has given lectures on music theory and electro-acoustic music at international conferences. Between 2003-2005 he taught harmony and composition at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. Tolga Tüzün participated in the composition and computer music course at IRCAM during 2005-2006. His compositions have been performed in various cities throughout US and Europe. Along with his compositional output, he also performs within experimental, jazz and electronic scenes, solo or with other artists. His collaborations include Oğuz Büyükberber, Korhan Erel, Nora Krahl, Ned Mc Gowan, Bob Ostertag, Frank Gratkowski, Nicolas Crosse, Sam Briton, Anıl Eraslan to name a few. Tolga Tüzün is a full professor at Istanbul Bilgi University where he teaches composition and electronic music.
www.tolgatuzun.net
• Korhan Erel •
Korhan Erel (no pronoun or they) is a non-binary electronic musician, improviser, composer and sound artist based in Berlin. Erel’s music covers free improvisation, conceptual sound performances, structured and composed pieces, music for contemporary dance, theater and video art. Erel performs solo, duo and group performances with improvisers, jazz musicians, dancers, in ensembles and orchestras. Korhan has twelve CD and LP releases on ECM (with Trickster Orchestra), Umland Records (Germany), FMR (UK), Gruenrekorder (Germany), Creative Sources Records (Portugal), Evil Rabbit Records (Netherlands/Germany), A.K. Müzik (Turkey), Müzik Hayvanı (Turkey) and Kukuruku Recordings (Greece) as well as several digital releases.
www.korhanerel.com
© Tuçe Erel
• Anıl Eraslan •
© Jina
Anil Eraslan is born in 1981 in Turkey, studied at the Fine Arts High School in Ankara before continuing his studies at the Strasbourg Conservatory. Shaped by his dual cultural background, he merges improvisation, contemporary music, jazz, and traditional music in his artistic practice. As an improvising musician, he participates in a wide range of projects across the world. He has collaborated with artists such as Fred Frith, Iva Bittova, Yuki Saga, Tristan Honsinger, Sylvain Kassap, Antonio Borghini, Grégory Dargent, Sevket Akinci, Merve Salgar, Taner Akyol, and many others. Currently, he divides his time between Berlin, Strasbourg, and Istanbul, performing in various ensembles, including Velvele, Banquet of Consequences, Malacoda, H, Racines, Sousta Politiki, Elektrik GEM, and Klub Demboh. Since the release of his solo album Absorb, he has presented his solo performances at festivals such as Météo, Jazz d’Or, Baignade Interdite, Sunnyside, Superflux, and Jazz à l’Étage. As a composer, he has created film scores for La fin du Silenceby Roland Edzard, A Strange Colour of Dream by Yasemin Akinci, and Silent Observers by Eliza Petkova. He has participated in several artistic residencies, including at the CEAAC program in Berlin, where he developed a project combining improvisation and pinhole photography, as well as at the OMI Art Center in New York and the Goethe-Institut in Istanbul for his documentary film project. As a filmmaker, he made his first feature-length documentary Sound Dreams of Istanbul, dedicated to the free improvisation scene in Istanbul.
www.anileraslan.com
• Volkan Ergen •
Volkan Ergen was born in Samsun, Turkey. At early ages he got introduced to the darbuka, a clay drum. In 1988, he got his first theoretical knowledge of music from Samsun Municipality of Turkish Music for Childrens' Choir Committee. In 1997, he entered the Istanbul Technical University's Concervatory Instrument Production Department. He has assisted famous Turkish musicians and vocalists with his percussions. In 2005, he performed on stage with Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz on the Eastern Womens' Festival. With his workshops, he shares his interests, techniques, and musical apporaches with his students. Also, he was a member of the free improvisation electronic jazz band Islak Kopek (Wet Dog).
www.volkanergen.tumblr.com
• SAVT • Merve Salgar / Elif Canfeza Gündüz / Zeynep Ayşe Hatipoğlu
SAVT is an improvisation trio based in Istanbul and Strasbourg. Since their foundation in 2015, the trio has formed a repertoire bringing together improvisation and contemporary written music. Consisting of tanbur, classical kemenche, and violoncello, SAVT seeks new ways to create a unique musical language that expands the taksim tradition and encourage new music composition for traditional instruments.
Zeynep Ayşe Hatipoglu | Cello
Elif Canfeza Gündüz | Classical Kemençe
Merve Salgar | Tanbur
• Hazal Döleneken •
© zep_offline
Hazal Döleneken was born in Turkey, 1991. Hazal studied High school’s Degree in classical trombone in Dokuz Eylül Conservatory and Bachelor’s degree in Conservatory of Amsterdam and Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Peter Saunders and Raymond Munnecom. She is currently studying composition, production and performance at Bilgi University Music Department where she’s a Full Scholarship. She give concerts with with several important musicians, bands and orchestra, such as Koninklijk Orchestra and ensembles, Tolga Tüzün, Şenol Küçükyıldırım ‘scape album’ , improvisation bands. She is currently working on her own music, improvising with trombone and vocal, composing acoustic, electroacoustic pieces and making installations for multidisciplinary projects by using Max Msp. She is currently member of Digital Experience Collective of Art (new media art collective) and Sonospheria: the acoustic ecology project where she makes a projects based on bio art.
• Koi Failure • Gazele Aydın / Zeliha Doğusan
Electronic music duo Koi Failure was formed in early 2021 in Istanbul by Zeliha and Gazele. Their main artistic approach is to distort and deform. They bring together many genres with dark atmospheric sounds and unpredictable dance rhythm.
linktr.ee/koifailure
• Özün Usta •
Özün Usta, born in Istanbul in 1977, is an active musician, plays various instruments, alone or with fellow musicians. He gave many concerts in and out of Turkey, recorded several albums, produced bands and festivals. Özün is also a long time hemp lover and supporter. When he first hit the drums and cymbals with a hemp stick and heard the sound, he decided to work with hemp on musical instruments.
• Diana Petrushka •
Diana Petrushka was born in Ukrainian city Kamianets-Podilsky and moved to Istanbul at 13 after completing the 7 years long classical piano education. Graduated from Hacettepe university Letter of French and MA in Sociology, continued musical performances for independent theatre shows, doing field recordings, making digital and experimental music. Diana participates in video poetry group project Lokal Anestezi, electronic noise duo project Wrong Chicken, Monster Much More and solo project Candy Scandale, doing vocals, making improvised music performances with synthesisers and other electronic instruments in Istanbul as well as European countries, USA and Japan.
• A.I.D •
A.I.D (Art is Dead) is an Istanbul-based collective that came together in 2014 with the aim of breaking free from predefined musical criteria. The name Art is Dead serves as a fluid overarching concept, referencing the final state music has reached through new technologies, new methods, reasoning, and experimental tendencies. Its scope is vast, ranging from acoustic free improvisation sets to composed electroacoustic works, from severe, harsh noise styles to hardcore/terror sets, and from interactive/multidisciplinary site-specific projects designed for particular spaces to spatialization/installation works. Whether in concert venues or in transformed spaces such as homes, studios, or parking lots, the experience of music—both for performers and listeners—becomes a purpose in itself.
artisd3ad.tumblr.com
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