Anatolian fiddle / kamança player Melisa Yıldırım and Indian tabla player Swarupa Ananth created musical magic when they met in early 2022 during a OneBeat 9 residency in Florida and recorded a spontaneous and extraordinary album in one take, now released as Hues of Imagination. This month, the duo meet for the first time since […]
If you’ve seen the Netflix series The Club, set in a 1950s music club in Istanbul’s vibrant Beyoğlu district, you will already have a good idea about the city’s historically cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic character. Later this month Baha Yetkin, a leading oud player from Turkey, and his all-star group of musicians from Turkey, Greece and […]
Superb live, expect a rhythmically powerful, soulful, rooted and contemporary live set. Olcay Bayir’s music is a natural marriage of her time-honoured Anatolian heritage and the vibrant, eclectic sounds of London. Classically-trained in the UK as a soprano, collaborations with musicians from all around the world have informed Olcay’s music as much as the rich […]
If you attended Bedük’s debut London gig at the O2 Academy Islington earlier this year, you would know this charismatic dance dynamo totally rocked the house! A diverse audience of UK fans, Turkish students, British dance heads and venue regulars turned up, most having no clue as to what to expect from this multi-genre […]
This weekend, sensational singer / songwriter Olcay Bayır will be live in East London, delivering melodies inspired by her Anatolian roots and the cosmopolitan rhythms of her new home city London. The classically trained soprano from Turkey has become a firm favourite in Britain’s world music circuit, her contemporary sound a dynamic fusion of […]
There have been many harrowing scenes from the Syrian conflict, but perhaps one of the most affecting concerns the Syrian city of Kobane. Lying a kilometre away from the Turkish village of Maheser, both are home to predominantly Kurdish residents who have been separated by a century old border that emerged after the collapse of […]
For centuries Armenians and Turks lived side-by-side. But horrific events in the Ottoman Empire particularly during the First World War had a catastrophic impact that turned kindred spirits into bitter enemies. Today, a friendship between Armenian duduk player Vardan Hovanissian and his musical soulmate, Turkish saz player Emre Gültekin seeks to overcome a multitude […]
What’s the best way to dispel the doom and gloom in the news? Take a selection of leading artists from the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. Throw in a feel-good film about peace, and an award-winning storyteller. That is the essence of Amal – a celebratory evening to stimulate all the senses. Singer-songwriter Olcay […]
