Concert with OLIVINN
As part of Tarabya Cultural Academy’s 15th anniversary celebrations, composer and alumna Sinem Altan and her ensemble OLIVINN offer new perspectives on the shared musical heritage of Germany and Türkiye.
Led by the German-Turkish composer and pianist, OLIVINN creates a multifaceted soundscape between classical music, jazz and folk. Together with singer Begüm Tüzemen, multi-instrumentalist Özgür Ersoy and Berlin-based percussionist Axel Meier, Altan brings together different worlds and cultural traditions in a vibrant, contemporary language. Anatolian melancholy meets German Romanticism, while improvisation encounters finely crafted composition. In this way, bridges emerge between two continents, as well as between memories and visions of the future.
The programme features selected works and arrangements from the albums Kara and Hava, alongside further surprises. The concert at Caddebostan Cultural Centre on Istanbul’s Asian side invites audiences on a journey through different eras, styles and cultural experiences.
Altan, a fellow of Tarabya Cultural Academy in 2016, is now regarded as one of the most prominent German-Turkish composers of her generation. Her works are performed by renowned orchestras and theatres across the German-speaking world. With OLIVINN, she continues to pursue her artistic vision of open, cross-border dialogue.
Musicians
Sinem Altan – piano, composition
Begüm Tüzemen – vocals
Özgür Ersoy – multi-instrumentalist
Axel Meier – percussion
Venue: Caddebostan Cultural Centre, Kadıköy, Istanbul
In cooperation with Caddebostan Cultural Centre of Kadıköy Municipality.
Artist
Sinem Altan
Sinem Altan, born in 1985 in Ankara, studied composition at the University of the Arts, Berlin, and composition at the Hanns Eisler Music Academy. Her more extensive works include Hafriyat-Earthwork for orchestra, for which she won the European Composer Prize 2015, the Concerto for Bağlama and Orchestra, commissioned by the Landesmusikrat Berlin 2013, and the city opera Die Gute Stadt (The Good City) for the Freiburg Theater. Her fairy tale concerto Keloğlan und die Räuberbande (Keloğlan and the Band of Robbers), commissioned by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, received the Young Ears Special Prize 2011. She currently works as artistic director at the Atze Musiktheater Berlin and is the musical director of the Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin. Her current performances and projects as a pianist and conductor, also with her renowned Ensemble Olivinn, include the recomposition project for Beethoven’s Pastorale at the main broadcasting hall of the RBB Aşkım Beethoven, meine Liebe (Aşkım Beethoven, My Love), commissions for new compositions at the Young Euro Classic at Konzerthaus Berlin, a series of concerts in Cemal-Reşit-Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul, and concert events for the German Federal President at Bellevue Palace.
Sinem Altan was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from July to December 2016.
Sinem Altan, born in 1985 in Ankara, studied composition at the University of the Arts, Berlin, and composition at the Hanns Eisler Music Academy. Her more extensive works include Hafriyat-Earthwork for orchestra, for which she won the European Composer Prize 2015, the Concerto for Bağlama and Orchestra, commissioned by the Landesmusikrat Berlin 2013, and the city opera Die Gute Stadt (The Good City) for the Freiburg Theater. Her fairy tale concerto Keloğlan und die Räuberbande (Keloğlan and the Band of Robbers), commissioned by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, received the Young Ears Special Prize 2011. She currently works as artistic director at the Atze Musiktheater Berlin and is the musical director of the Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin. Her current performances and projects as a pianist and conductor, also with her renowned Ensemble Olivinn, include the recomposition project for Beethoven’s Pastorale at the main broadcasting hall of the RBB Aşkım Beethoven, meine Liebe (Aşkım Beethoven, My Love), commissions for new compositions at the Young Euro Classic at Konzerthaus Berlin, a series of concerts in Cemal-Reşit-Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul, and concert events for the German Federal President at Bellevue Palace.
Sinem Altan was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from July to December 2016.
Artist
Özgür Ersoy
Özgür Ersoy, born in 1977 in Erzincan, studied in Izmir at the Bağlama Conservatory for Turkish Music and has lived in Berlin since 1999. He has performed in numerous projects, including the family concert Mr. Sax in Anatolia at the Bielefeld Philharmonic, which was composed for the Turkish instruments bağlama and mey. As a soloist, he has played at well-known venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Hagen Philharmonic, Bielefeld Philharmonic, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Cemal-Reşit-Rey Concert Hall, and Bellevue Palace. His more recent projects include Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (The Town Musicians of Bremen) at the Berlin Comic Opera and the film music for Berlin, I Love You. In addition to his musical work, he has also been since 2013 an author.
Özgür Ersoy was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from June to August 2018 and July 2020.
Özgür Ersoy, born in 1977 in Erzincan, studied in Izmir at the Bağlama Conservatory for Turkish Music and has lived in Berlin since 1999. He has performed in numerous projects, including the family concert Mr. Sax in Anatolia at the Bielefeld Philharmonic, which was composed for the Turkish instruments bağlama and mey. As a soloist, he has played at well-known venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Hagen Philharmonic, Bielefeld Philharmonic, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Cemal-Reşit-Rey Concert Hall, and Bellevue Palace. His more recent projects include Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (The Town Musicians of Bremen) at the Berlin Comic Opera and the film music for Berlin, I Love You. In addition to his musical work, he has also been since 2013 an author.
Özgür Ersoy was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from June to August 2018 and July 2020.