London Yunus Emre Institute hosted a concert by Guitarist Julia Seibert, Udi Baha Yetkin and Percussionist Muammer Sağlam, offering a brand-new perspective to the interaction of Eastern and Western musical cultures. 

London Yunus Emre Institute took music lovers on a musical journey that crosses the borders of East and West.  Offering a heart-touching synthesis of Turkish and Western melodies, London Yunus Emre Enstitüsü took the rightful pride of hosting the "Music Beyond Borders: Guitar and Oud Harmony" concert on 17 February 2022 Thursday, at 19.00.

A MUSIC BRIDGE BETWEEN EASTERN AND WESTERN CULTURES

In the concert, a trio of musicians, including Guitarist Julia Seibert, Udi Baha Yetkin and Percussion Artist Muammer Sağlam, took the stage. Bringing together two different musical traditions to build a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures, the concert brought the audience together through music. The concert provided a unique musical feast for music lovers to experience both the common aspects and differences of Eastern and Western music and to build a cultural bridge between these two different music worlds. 

The concert night started with guitarist Julia Seibert's solo performance of Carlo Domeniconi's Koyunbaba piece inspired by Turkish music, as well as various classical Western music pieces. Continuing her music education at Trinity Laban in London under the supervision of Graham Devine, the German Guitarist took the audience on a classical Western music tour to the timbre of her guitar strings. Seibert, who was awarded the Best Interpretation at the 2018 Beatty Competition and the 2021 Montagu Cleeve Guitar Award, pioneered in opening the way to the musical world of the East by transcending the boundaries of the Western music world with her music.  

THE WORKS OF CEMİL BEY AND TATYOS EFENDİ WERE PERFORMED

After Seibert's solo performance, Turkish oud player and composer Baha Yetkin took the stage to perform the works of our great composers such as Tanburi Cemil Bey and Tatyos Efendi. Growing up in Istanbul, the meeting point of European and Middle Eastern music cultures, Yetkin has exhibited works that reflect both the complex rhythmic structures of Middle Eastern music and the notes woven together by Western works. Both artists were accompanied by percussion artist Muammer Sağlam who took the stage with many musicians in England.  The passionate performance of Sağlam, who also worked on the soundtracks of the documentaries prepared for the BBC and ITV, added an impressive color to this musical synthesis.  

“CULTURAL RICHES ARE FREE OF BORDERS”

In the last part of the concert, pieces such as Greensleeves, which presents the synthesis of Eastern and Western music, Pavane by Gabriel Faure and Kurdilihicazkar Saz Semai by Tatyos Efendi were sung together in harmony by the trio of musicians. Offering a new perspective to the interaction between Eastern and Western music cultures, this concert attracted the fans of both music worlds and showed that our cultural richness is not bound by borders and can create a harmony just like the notes of music.  
 
A different Istanbul atmosphere was experienced in the night where tea and simit were served, sincere conversations took place among the guests and the tunes of East-West music were blended together.