Ozan Aksoy (vocals, baglama, ud, ney, kaval and percussion)

The roots of Ozan Aksoy’s dedication to music lies in his early childhood when his father began teaching him the art of baglama (long-necked lute), an instrument of special symbolic importance for the Alawite minority in Turkey. He developed an interest in the multi-ethnic musical traditions of Turkey from the beginning of his music career, and became a member of the band Kardes Türküler (Ballads of Fraternity) from 1995 to 2003 as an arranger, composer and performer. Aksoy has recorded five albums and given concerts all around Europe and Turkey with Ballads of Fraternity, performing the local music of Anatolia, the Balkans and Caucasus. He has studied various traditional instruments of Turkey with worldwide experts such as ney (reed flute) with Sadreddin Özçimi and kaval (shepherd’s pipe) with Kemal Sahir Gürel. Aksoy has pursued his passion for the different ethnic musical traditions of Turkey in various media, including producing a 2003 documentary called The Other Voices for a TV channel in Turkey. He has also composed music for the documentary Sirtlarindaki Hayat (Life on Their Shoulders) and the movie Bulutlari Beklerken (Waiting for the Clouds), both of which were directed by the award-winner film director Yesim Ustaoglu. Having earned his master’s degree in the Women and Gender Studies Department at Istanbul University, he is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Ethnomusicology at the Graduate Center, CUNY as a Chancellor’s Fellow.