Hakan Silahsızoğlu and Verena Roth & Florian Erlbeck are residents at the Tarabya Cultural Academy as a tandem of the Turkish-German co-production grants supported by the Allianz Foundation.

Hakan Silahsızoğlu

Hakan trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in England. He worked at Talimhane Theatre as an actor as well as producer and coordinator in national and international projects including EU projects. He was member of Yapı Kredi Afife Jale Theatre Awards Jury in Istanbul between 2012-2018 theatre seasons. He’s been a global fellow at International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA) between 2016 – 2018. Hakan was in the selection committee and board of International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY) which is the most prestigious congress in the world regarding performing arts for children. He is at the board of Theatre Cooperative and International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (Assitej) Turkey. Hakan is the founder and director of Atta Festival, Turkey’s only international arts festival for babies and children. Hakan is the head of children’s theatre department at Watermans Arts Centre, London’s leading cultural centre.

Hakan Silahsızoğlu is a resident at the Tarabya Cultural Academy from October 2023 to January 2024.

Verena Roth und Florian Erlbeck

Verena Roth & Florian Erlbeck (Muckemacher) live and work in Berlin. The two composers, musicians, and producers have been very active on the music since the 1990s in the form of a large number of studio albums, productions, and concert tours. Until 2006, they were members of the Munich-based band Les Babacools. Verena Roth is a singer and pianist, and Florian Erlbeck studied jazz (tenor saxophone) in Munich and composed film scores (Dok.fest München, composition prize 2018). Since 2012, they have been producing music and video clips using their own sound and visual aesthetic with the aim of moving past categories and labels such as children’s music and entertainment for adults. Their goal is to have people experience music together, and to formulate an unconventional mixture of music genres with the right approach to audiences that also fosters artistic growth. They have presented their music at numerous festivals and concerts (including Elbphilharmonie, at:tension Festival, and Bardentreffen). Through collaborations with the Goethe-Institut in Milan, Istanbul, and Sofia, they have also performed concerts and conducted projects in other European countries.

Verena Roth und Florian Erlbeck are residents at the Tarabya Cultural Academy from October 2023 to January 2024.