Burak Özdemir is an Istanbul-born, Berlin-based composer, bassoonist, sound artist and director, whose work dissolves the boundaries between early music, electronic composition and contemporary performance. Recognized as one of the pioneers of the electro-baroque genre, he transforms historical musical language into immersive concert experiences, live electronic performances and interdisciplinary stage works that connect centuries of musical tradition with today’s urban sonic culture.
Educated at The Juilliard School in New York, the Berlin University of the Arts and the Istanbul Conservatory, Burak developed an artistic language that places the bassoon at the center of a radically contemporary musical aesthetic. His performances combine virtuosic instrumental playing, live electronics, spatial sound design, improvisation and theatrical storytelling, establishing him as one of the few artists equally at home in concert halls, opera houses, museums and underground clubs.
In 2008 he founded the internationally acclaimed ensemble Musica Sequenza, through which he has created more than forty original productions touring across Europe, North and South America and Asia. His projects—including Sampling Baroque, Bach: The Silent Cantata, Amour Fou, Rameau à la Turque, Inferno, Interminata and the immersive sound installation series Transmute—have become landmarks of contemporary reinterpretation of historical repertoire.
As a solo artist, Özdemir presents electronic live sets and concert performances that merge bassoon, modular electronics, historical instruments and original composition into an unmistakable artistic signature. His work has been presented at venues including the Elbphilharmonie, Berliner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Staatsoper Vienna, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Peter Jay Sharp Theater New York, Kampnagel Hamburg and clubs such as Berghain, KitKat, Sisyphos, Radial System V and Bomontiada Istanbul.
His collaborators include Sasha Waltz, Constanza Macras, Matthew Herbert, Fazıl Say, Karim Aïnouz, Rolando Villazón, Andreas Scholl, Natacha Atlas, Federico Albanese, Nicolò Balducci, Edita Gruberová, the RIAS Kammerchor and Rundfunkchor Berlin, among many others.
His recordings have been released by Sony Music, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Neue Meister and Tacet Nota labels. Whether performing as a solo bassoonist, electronic live act or composer, Burak Özdemir continues to redefine the possibilities of historical instruments in contemporary culture, creating performances where virtuosity, sound art and electronic music converge into a distinctive artistic universe.
More than the energetic Burak Özdemir, a Turkish bassoonist, on the prime aspects of expressivity and sound, to move beyond surface dexterity and brilliance to find the sense, the meaning behind the notes.
● THE NEW YORK TIMES
Burak Özdemir begeistert mit warmer, weicher Tongebung und grosser Virtuosität. Klangmalerei vom Feinsten kam bei diesem homogen und sensible aufeinander reagierenden Zusammenspiel zwischen Ensemble und dem Solisten heraus.
● THE FINANCIAL TIMES
Burak Özdemir gehört zu einer neuen jungen Musikergeneration, die sich durch musikalische Vielseitigkeit auszeichnet und sich genreübergreifenden Herausforderungen stellt. Ob im Barock, Jazz oder in der elektronischen Musik – Özdemir überzeugt mit Ausdrucksstärke und Leidenschaft.
● WDR 3
Burak Özdemir und sein Ensemble musizieren mit spritziger Energie.Das Kammerorchester Musica Sequenza spielt federnd leicht und bettet den Solisten in einen sehr durchsichtigen Klang.
● NDR KULTUR
Ensemble Musica Sequenza spielt mit grosser Leidenschaft und Ausdruckskraft. Beim Solisten Burak Özdemir bleibt kaum ein Wunsch offen, er agiert in den virtuosen Passagen auf hohem Niveau und formt auch die langsamen Sätze mit grosser Gesanglichkeit.
● RBB KULTUR
Hier entsteht eine neue Spielart von Musik!
● HESSISCHER RUNDFUNK
Der originelle Austausch der beiden Welten ist hörenswert!
● ÖSTERREICHER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN
Fagott lobt singend Gott!
● WAZ
