MEHTAP DEMIR ENSEMBLE

SING MEHTAP* (*Mehtap means moonlight)

Listen, sing, and understand said Mehtap (the moonlight)
I kept silent, patient, and only whispered
The stars I converse every night accompanied “the me inside” along the road
They saluted Mehtap quietly
They explained love and separation to my heart
And they asked me to sing, so I sang…

“Sing, Mehtap” is the name of the new project of Dr. Mehtap Demir who is an ethno-musicologist, a kemane player and a folk music singer in Turkey.

She accompanies the high multiplicity of Anatolian-Ottoman music variety reflected in her unique voice with her traditional bow instrument “kemane”.

Mehtap’s new solo album “Sing, Mehtap” that contains Anatolian folk songs as well as brand new songs written & composed by her disrtubeted in 2012 in Turkey

Mehtap accompanies with her voice and instrument to six musicians from whom you will hear the harmony of the Anatolian instruments such as baglama, kanun, kaval, percussion and guitar. The videos of everyday life from Anatolia, which are being shown during her performance, will take you a trip to the land of the songs.

Mehtap Demir was born in 1978 in Ardahan, Turkey and graduated from Istanbul Technical University State Conservatory. Then, she had her master’s degree in Musicology from Istanbul University and her PhD in Music Anthropology from Yeditepe University. Mehtap stayed in Israel for one year during her fieldwork and studied the emigration and interaction of the cross-border music.

In 2010, she took a major part in a musical documentary feature named My Sweet Canary, which then happened to be an international project with a series of musical concerts in many countries in Europe & USA. Since then, Mehtap has been performing Rembetiko music, which is the creator of Aegean Culture with musicians from Israel and Greece who took part with her in My Sweet Canary project. They took place and performed at the prestigious music festivals all over the world such as SXSW and Opening Concert of WOMEX 2012.

Mehtap is proud of sharing the same stage with the world-famous female vocals such as Yasmin Levy, Savinna Yantaou, Mor Karbasi & Giota Negka and representing the musical culture of Turkey by attending to the most popular music festivals in countries like Greece, France, Germany, Belgium, Israel, USA and so on.

Mehtap is also a lecturer in Istanbul University and offers courses on world music cultures, traditional folk music repertoire and kemane. She has been continuing her academic life as an ethno-musician and kemane player by attending the international conferences, workshops and symposiums in different countries. Moreover, it should be stated that Mehtap is one of the few unique female kemane players in Turkey.

Contact
www.mehtapdemir.com
info@mehtapdemir.com