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.

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