
B U R A K Ö Z D E M I R
Burak Özdemir is a composer, bassoonist and a conductor. He studied historical performance and composition at The Juilliard School, University of the Arts Berlin and at the Istanbul Conservatory. In 2008 he founded Musica Sequenza at the Juilliard School New York; an ensemble which stands for the innovation of baroque music and intercultural production. In 2011 Özdemir moved back to Berlin, where he practices new performance modalities through self-developed methods. Burak Özdemir has created internationally renowned productions such as “Sampling Baroque” and “Bach : The Silent Cantata” as well as the immersive sound installation series “Transmute”.
Özdemir’s musical activities have been seen in Europe, North and South America and Asia, in spaces such as Elbphilharmonie, Peter J Sharp Theater, Berghain, Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Staatsoper Vienna, Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires. As a soloist he has appeared with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, L’arte del Mondo, Juilliard Symphony Orchestra and Lautten Compagney and collaborated with Menahem Pressler, Sasha Waltz, Rolando Villazon, Matthew Herbert, Werner Ehrhardt, Fazil Say, Rodriguez Jr, Andreas Scholl, Rias Kammerchor, Hernan Cattaneo, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Natacha Atlas and Edita Gruberova.
In recent years Burak Özdemir applied the language and tools of contemporary performance to vitalise and explore historical operas and sacred baroque repertoire. With his works “Fuga : The Electro-Baroque Opera” (2010), “Opera del Futuro” (2015) “Kassia” (2021) established the genre of the electro-baroque. In 2015 Händel Festspiele (Halle) commissioned his production “Sampling Baroque / Händel”, which became the first electro-baroque album release of Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. The following episode of “Sampling Baroque / Bach” was commissioned by the International Bach Festival Schaffhausen and premiered in Kammgarn Switzerland in 2016. Shortly after it’s creation, “Sampling Baroque” has become an internationally touring program and visited many festivals and concert halls such as Istanbul Music Festival, Bach Akademie Stuttgart, Club Berghain, Radial System V, Bomontiada, Karavaan Festival, Oranjewoud Festival and broadcasted on Arte Concerts, Deutsche Welle, Swiss National Television and Radio Berlin Brandenburg.
In 2014 Özdemir received a commission by the Grand Palais Museum Paris to compose music for the “Diego Velazquez” world tour exhibition. The work was curated and filmed by Karim Ainouz, which later became an international DVD release on Arte Edition.
Burak Özdemir is currently focusing on the intensification of collaborative processes, such as the dialogic development of choreography and music. In 2013 he collaborated with Sasha Waltz & Guests at the Festival d’Avignon for the performance of “Dialoge”. He composed original music for this production, using his sound recordings from the Gezi Park demonstrations in Istanbul. The performance took place in the Opera Avignon including Özdemir’s improvisational performance. In 2016 Özdemir wrote music and performed live for Sasha Waltz’s interdisciplinary and open exchange platform “Zuhören” at Radial System V. Following year he joined Sasha Waltz for the choreographic installation “Figure Humaine” for the inauguration of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.
In 2018 Burak Özdemir was commissioned by the Stadttheater Schaffhausen for his choreographic work “Atlas Passion”. This inter-religious oratorio after Johann Sebastian Bach, was created for four soloists, chamber choir, baroque orchestra, modern dance, video art, as well as light- and costume design. Over 80 artists performed in this parkour production.
Istanbul born artist Burak Özdemir appears with his live sets in clubs such as Berghain, Sisyphos, KitKat, Kammgarn, Wagenhallen, Radial System, Domhof Cologne and Bomontiada Istanbul. He records for Sony Music, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Neue Meister and Tacet Nota labels. Özdemir also coaches educational workshops at universities and festivals around the world for soloists, ensembles and electronic musicians.
ALBUMS
„..more than energetic.”
New York Times
IMDB
DISCOGS
WIKIPEDIA
WORLD PRESS
PRESS PHOTOS
BURAK ONE SHEET
LABELS
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
Sony Music
Neue Meister
Tacet Nota
FILM MUSIC
THE PLACE OF NO WORDS
Mark Webber – U.S.A. 2019
MAROF WINERY
Rene Maurin – Slovenia 2019
VELAZQUEZ WILD REALISM
Karim Ainouz – Arte France 2015
GÖTTER WIE WIR
Carsten Strauch – ZDF Germany 2013
LIFELONG / HAYATBOYU
Asli Özge – Berlinale Germany 2013
SHAMAN WOMEN
Azra Deniz – Turkey 2012
LA PROCEDURE SEXUELLE
Louis Elsass – USA 2010
STAGE WORKS
ORISHAS
Neustart Kultur
Germany 2022
HÄNDEL MORPHINE
Händel Festspiele Halle
Halle 2022
INFERNO
Metropolitan Museum
New York 2021
KASSIA OPERA
Ringlokschuppen
Bochum 2021
BACH OPIUM
Schaffhauser BachFest
Kammgarn West 2021
DEVAS
Initiative Musik
Germany 2020
HERMES
Silent Green Quartier
Berlin 2019
KORERO/SOHBET
Pera Museum
Istanbul 2018
TRANSMUTE 4
Berghain Kantine
Berlin 2016
SAMPLING BAROQUE/BACH
International Bach Festival
Schaffhausen 2016
TRANSMUTE 3
Zuhören with Sasha Waltz
Berlin 2016
SAMPLING BAROQUE/HANDEL
Internationale Handel Festspiele
Halle 2015
TRANSMUTE 2
Biennale for Early Music
Berlin 2014
TRANSMUTE 1
Int. Campaign Abolish Nuclear (ICAN)
Berlin 2014
DIALOGE/SASHA WALTZ
Festival d’Avignon
Avignon 2013
FUGA THE
ELECTRO-BAROQUE OPERA
Baruch Performing Arts Center
New York 2010
INSTALLATIONS
VERTIGO
Arthouse Jersey
England 2022
THE MEDICI
Met Museum NYC
USA 2022
INTERMINATA
Mardin Biennial
Turkey 2022
LOCKED-DOWN
Chretzeturm Foundation
Switzerland 2021