In Lake Van, Eastern Turkey, fifteen-year-old Meryem is accused of shaming her family after being raped by her uncle. Cemal, her cousin, is tasked with Meryem’s “honour” killing. But their journey takes an unexpected turn when they encounter Irfan, a troubled professor in search of a new life… Arcola artistic director Mehmet Ergen directs […]
Hakan Tuna’s new single Sevdiğim is out today. A mid-tempo track, it carries the London musician’s signature sound: a nostalgic nod to classic Anatolian Rock, with psychedelic pop keys and indie guitar rhythms that are very much rooted in the present day. Sevdiğim [Whom I Love] was written in 1976 by Özer Şenay, a […]
Kamran Aziz, one of the most significant Turkish Cypriot personalities of the past century, has died aged 95. She had been unwell for some time, receiving treatment at Lefkoşa Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu Hospita and was discharged yesterday. She passed away at her home in the early hours of this morning. Kamran Hanım was a lady of many […]
London-based singer Olcay Bayır has launched a crowdfunding campaign on international music platform PledgeMusic to raise funds to record her second album Rüya [‘Dream’]. PledgeMusic, which was used in 2016 by Robbie Williams to release his album The Heavy Entertainment Show, allows music fans to support artists by pledging to buy new albums and other […]
A dream about ‘free women’ has inspired a Turkish singer-songwriter to curate a new monthly party in central London. The name for Djanan Turan’s new live music and DJ night comes from Arabic, as Hura means ‘free woman’ – perfect given her free-spirited nature. Launching this Friday at The Library, a lush private members club […]
Easy listening crooner Atila is back with a fabulous new single, released in Britain today. Inspired by the singer’s own life and performed with orchestral support for a warm cinematic sound, I Can’t Believe We Made It is set to become a modern classic. The song was written by Atila and Robert Barron, and pays […]
One of Turkey’s most renowned classical musicians will be performing a special concert in London this weekend. Şefika Kutluer, an award-winning flautist, will be drawing on musical compositions from the East and the West for her Friday night recital at St. James’s Church Piccadilly. Accompanied by David Wright on harpsichord, Kutluer presents a programme […]
Cholera Street is set among the wild and lawless slums of old Istanbul. One of its residents Salih, a happy-go-lucky mechanic and the youngest son of a well-loved barber, is about to land himself in lots of trouble when he steps into the shoes of a recently deceased local gangster-cum-community protector. Adapted from Metin Kaçan‘s […]
After a 12-year hiatus from the stage, award-winning actor, film director and screenwriter Yılmaz Erdoğan returns with a new one-man comedy show. Münaşaka takes its cue from George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. First performed in 1913, it is about a professor who makes a bet that he can train a poor Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, […]
Inspired by Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723) and Ali Ufki (1610-1675) – two composers and collectors of Ottoman music – The Golden Horn is a modern interpretation of early Ottoman classical music. The repertoire has been compiled by two renowned Greek musicians – Ourania Lampropoulou (santur) and Evgenios Voulgaris (yaylı tambur) – using manuscripts by Cantemir and […]
