Brenna MacCrimmon (vocals)

Brenna MacCrimmon is a Canadian folk singer from Toronto, Ontario. She has been performing, studying and teaching Balkan and Turkish music since late 1980s. She speaks and sings perfect Turkish and is internationally acclaimed as a Turkish folk singer. Her interest in Turkish music started with a trip to a local library in Burlington, Ontario when she was still a teenager. In the early 1980s, MacCrimmon sought out local Turkish musicians, and after learning how to play the bağlama (the long-necked lute), she began playing and singing in a Turkish community band. Soon, she grew interested in the Turkish branch of Balkan songs, known as Rumeli folksongs. She has been studying Turkish musical theory and combing archives and recordings to uncover nearly forgotten folk song gems. She has visited Greece and Turkey several times and later lived and studied in Istanbul where she did research with people of Rumeli (Balkan-Turkish) descent. Besides her work with Sesler, she has performed as a guest musician in Psyche-belly Dance Music and Duble Oryantal (Double Oriental) by Baba Zula & Mad Professor. She recently formed Orkestra Keyif with Beth Cohen, Paul Brown and other Turkish music lovers. She was also featured in the 2005 documentary film Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul, directed by Fatih Akın.