Re-Imagining the Brandenburg Concertos

6 new compositions

Zeynep Toraman

Zeynep is a composer and scholar from Istanbul, Turkey, living and working in Somerville, MA. Her practice-based research explores the ways in which texts (in the broadest sense of this word) can interact with one another within the larger framework of musical compositions, by way of thinking of her own library as an archive, and enfolding autobiography, poetry, fiction and history within her works.
Past and recent collaborators include Lauren Cauley, ELISION Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, Quatuor Diotima, Distractfold Ensemble, Ensemble Adapter, Amie Weiss and Nicola Barbieri, Noam Bierstone, and the Wet Ink Ensemble. Her music has been performed at festivals such as Darmstadt Summer Course (Darmstadt, Germany), Summer Akademie Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart, Germany ), IRCAM ManiFeste (Paris, France) and Wet Ink Large Ensemble Readings (New York, NY).
In September 2017, she joined the doctoral program in composition at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, where she studies with Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku.

Sabina Khujaeva

Sabina Khujaeva (b. 1988) is a composer of Uzbekistan origin and currently living in Turkey. Her musical career started as a classical pianist from an early age. She continued her education as a composer at the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan and as a Master's degree at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Music, ITU. Her sound world is based on energy and the spirituality of Uzbek music. The composer explores the timbre blends of traditional instruments with European classical instruments. At the Conference on Creating Cross-Cultural Music in the 21st Century, the composer's “Luminescence” (Istanbul, 2017) was performed by Hezarfen. She also collaborated with the ensemble Omnibus in the international workshops Omnibus Laboratoriumworkshops, where the composer's work “Hat” (2015, Tashkent) was awarded. Her concertos for violin and orchestra were performed by the State Orchestra of Uzbekistan in 2011 and 2014. In recent years, Sabina's works have been actively involved in various master classes, conferences, and music festivals. Currently, Sabina is a Ph.D. student at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Music, ITU. Her researches concerned the phenomenon of music and space in the context of contemporary music. Sabina also creates electroacoustic compositions. One of his works were included in the programs of “Wings” The Sesin Yolculuğu Festival (Istanbul, 2016), and Mixtur Festival (Barcelona, 2018).

Akın Kilis
He was born on June 13 1998 in Adana/Turkey. In 2016, he became a composition student at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul/Turkey. His works performed in the 10th and 11th Voyage of Sound Young Composers Festival, İstanbul (2017-2018) Until today he attended master-classes/seminars of Mark Andre, Shih-Hui Chen, Hideki Kozakura, Michael Edward Edgerton, Samir Odeh-Tamimi, Stephan Lienenkamper, Kamran İnce, Onur Türkmen, Yiğit Aydın, Mahir Cetiz, In 018, he received an invitation from Czech Republic for The Second Everlasting Hope: Gustav Mahler & Terezin Composers Festival and he compose an ensemble piece "Stepwise to the Tenebrous Aura" as a commission piece from this festival. He studied composition with Gordon Kampe and studied Analyze with Alexander Schubert at Hfmt Hamburg (erasmus). He continues his composition studies with Özkan Manav at the same university in Turkey (Master). On 26th of July, his piece “Parodies of a Ballade” is performed by Hollanda based Ensemble Oerknal in the scope of İstanbul Bilgi University New Music Festival. He thanks Istanbul Composers Collective and his composer friends Masis Taşı, Emircan Pehlivan, Mithatcan Öcal.

Toykan Efe Kahraman

is a composer based in İzmir whose works have recently been performed in festivals such as International Cappadocia Composers Cauldron (Turkey), Sesin Yolculugu Young Composer's Festival (Turkey), VIII.IMCNM Course Contrast Festival (Ukraine), Digitizmir (Turkey), Basklarinet Festijn (Netherlands), Izmir New Music Days (Turkey), Festival DME (Portugal). His music is featured by artists and ensembles such as Fie Schouten, Diskant Ensemble, Ensemble Nostri Temporis, Ensemble Handwerk, Lovemusic Collective and Ensemble KNM - Berlin.

He had the opportunity to attend various events and had found chance to work with distinguished composers Raphaël Cendo, Marco Stroppa, Helena Tulve, Valerio Sannicandro, Jaime Reis, Vassos Nicolaou, Anna Korsun, Sergej Maingardt, Simon Vosecek and among others.

Kahraman continues his education as a senior student at Yasar University. He had studied acoustic composition and electro-acoustic composition with Mehmet Can Özer and recently working on acoustic composition and orchestration with Füsun Köksal.

Berkant Gençkal

Berkant Gençkal was born in Bulgaria – 1977. He took his first lessons from his father, Yusuf Gençkal. Then he continued his piano education with Prof. Nergis Şakirzade Sarı. He worked harmony with Zarife Bakihanova and composition with Elhan Bakihanov. Then he continued to work composition with Peter-Jan Wagemans. He took electronic music courses from René Uylenhoet. He studied Advanced Theory with Michael Ellison and ethnomusicology with Robert Riegle.

In 2000, composer won a mention with his piece “Suite for Piano, Strings and Percussion” organized by The British Council’s “The Musician of the Year” competition. In 2002 he won second prize with his “Virgin Stories” in the Eczacıbaşı Competition. In 2006 he won first prize with his work “Suite Trakia” in the same competition. With a national entry, his work “2 Views Orient” earned big success in the festival organized by ISCM in Stuttgart in 2006. In 2008 he won third prize with his piece “A Song from the Cave of Eternity” organized by “Culturscapes” in Basel, Switzerland. In 2014 he won fourth prize in Mersin with his trio “The Earring and the Child”.

Composer does not leave traditional techniques in his works. Adding contemporary and modern timbres, he revealed the post-modern texture synthesizing them in his works. The melodies are always his primary and persistent structures. Since 2004 he has worked in Eskişehir.

Emircan Pehlivan

Emircan Pehlivan, born in 1998 in Çarşamba, Samsun in Turkey. There are coincidental factors rather than decisions taken at an early age in Emir's choice to study composition. The most influential of these coincidences is the interest and collective work shown to him by Mehmet Ali Uzunselvi, Emre Dündar and Mithatcan Öcal; members of the Istanbul Composers Collective, whom he somehow met after coming to Istanbul for university education. Today, he continues to compose with these people intensely, and as a result of the criticism and comments they make to each other, he carries his music to further level every day.

It was throught stipendiums and prizes including the first prize of 15th Sun River Composition Competition(2019), the first prize of Pre-Art Competition(2021), the second prize of Sureyya Opera Competiton(2020), the third prize of Ensemble Ibis Composition Competition(2021), Gılgamesh International Composition Award (2021), and the soundOn music festival, V International Composition Competition “Appassionato Ensemble” (2021) and others.

He is continuing his composition activities mainly in Europe and lives as a freelance composer, musician and improviser in Istanbul.