Gypsy music

 

Turkish Gypsy Music from Turkey

Our efforts in the last ten years of promoting Gypsy music from Turkey at international festivals and cultural centres have had significant effects in raising awareness, especially in Europe, of Gypsy musicians and bands from Turkey.

Building on our experience in this field, we are setting up a “Centre for Gypsy Music from Turkey”, in the premises of Karagöz Art Center in Ayvalik.

This building once was an olive oil warehouse built in 1881 with a typical Greek architectural style: a base of 80m2 with a high ceiling exposing the original wooden framework of the building.

The centre is open its doors in the summer of 2005. The main activity of the centre is around Gypsy music but it is also open to all other artistic activities.

We are aiming to be the reference point in Turkey to and for Gypsy musicians, who have not had an established address to date.

Our objectives are as follows:

-Forming a comprehensive database of the professional Gypsy musicians and bands in all regions of Turkey

-Cataloguing all forms of documentation (CD, cassettes, films, books, photographs, posters…) on Gypsy culture in Turkey

-Conducting artistic projects of all kinds and on all subjects related to Gypsy culture

-Organizing Gypsy music festivals in Ayvalik and in other cities in Turkey as well as abroad, bringing musicians from Turkey and elsewhere together

-Further promoting Gypsy music abroad
-Developing collaborative projects with musicians and institutions from other countries

-Organizing musical training programs delivered by the masters of instruments for the younger members of the Gypsy community in Ayvalik and other cities.

- Karagöz will function as a meeting point as well as a creation and rehearsal space for diverse projects. It will also host musical performances.

 

GYPSY MUSICIANS IN AYVALIK :

Hüseyin PIRZOLA :Darbuka-Tef
Cüneyt PIRZOLA : Darbuka - Davul
Hakki PIRZOLA : Darbuka-davul
Ugur CANAKOGLU : Violon
Ayhan CANAKOGLU : Luth, violon
Bahattin GÜLER : Luth
Polat YILDIZ : Violon
Bâki GÜLER : Kanun

Thanks to the work made to date towards forming a comprehensive database of professional Gypsy musicians, we are now in contact with a total of 160 musicians from Thrace, Istanbul and Aegean Sea region:

44 clarinettists / 17 zurna / players / 24 davul players / 15 kanun players / 22 violinists
22 darbuka players / 10 ud players
1 percussionist with wooden spoons
5 çümbüs players

Our database also contains 15 bands, some of which we have been organizing concerts abroad for 15 years.
Kenan ÖZTÜRK

Address : KARAGÖZ ART CENTER
Cumhuriyet Cad. No. 78 Ayvalik - Turkey
Tel. +90 266 312 65 61
Contact : mail.cafeturc2@yahoo.fr
Telephone (France): +33 6 08 07 16 28