Musical storytelling is central to the Alevi faith, with mystical poems and musical ballads (deyisler, nefesler) being orally passed down from generation to generation over many centuries. These traditional folk songs, which can be heard all across Anatolia (modern Turkiye), pay homage to the core...
This week, Altın Gün packed out East London’s art déco gem Troxy for an exhilarating evening of infectious music and vibrant energy as 3,000 fans danced with wild abandon to the sounds of these Amsterdam-based masters of Anatolian pysch-folk. Thursday’s concert was likely the last London performanc...
Two Turkish classical music virtuous, pianist Rüya Taner and saxophonist Kürşat Başar, will be giving a free recital at St James's Church in Piccadilly, central London, later this month. Regarded as one of the finest pianists of her generation, 53-year-old Turkish Cypriot Rüya made her debut at The...
Singer-songwriter Olcay Bayır is one of the UK’s foremost artists of Alevi and Kurdish origin. Her the Anatolian songbook is inspired with the rich musical tapestry that spans Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and Greek, fused with the sounds of the Mediterranean and Balkans, including flamenco and rebetik...
Lefkoşa born singer-songwriter Buray has rarely been out of the Turkish charts since releasing his critically acclaimed debut album 1 Şişe Aşk [1 Bottle of Love] in 2015, which scored him two number hits "İstersen" and "Sen Sevda Mısın", and won him multiple awards and a legion of fans. Buray has g...
The eclectic Djanan Turan and The Flying Karpet Collective return to the Jazz Café to bring us a new addition to their Psychedelic World project, this time celebrating the incredible music of one of the Godfathers of Anatolian Rock, Erkin Koray. The free-spirited, guitar-playing singer-songwriter i...
One of Turkiye’s biggest musical exports in recent years is dance music producer Mahmut Orhan. The Turkish star hit the big time with his 2016 global smash hit Feel, featuring Sena Sener, with the striking video filmed in Istanbul. The uplifting song has amassed over half a billion streams on YouTu...
Dr. Fazıl Küçük Turkish Supplementary School is hosting a special Turkish Cultural Event in conjunction with the Yunus Emre Institute London this Saturday, 2 March. Akin to a mini indoor festival, the three hour event will encompass traditional folk music and dancing, storytelling based on the adv...
One of the hottest tickets for Turkish London this year will undoubtedly be Sagopa Kajmer’s concert. The celebrated hip-hop artist is live at Camden’s iconic Electric Ballroom this spring and first release tickets have already sold out! Behind hits such as “Bir Pesimistin Gözyaşları,” “366.Gün”, “N...
Classical music lovers will know that Franz Liszt’s piano transcription of Beethoven’s Symphony No 3 “Eroica” is both technically and musically very demanding for the performer. Birsen Ulucan’s performance, a free concert in the heart of London in mid-March offers a rare opportunity to hear this gr...
