Korhan Erel

Korhan Erel (1973, Istanbul) ^[1]is a computer musician, improviser, sound designer based in Berlin.

He plays instruments he designs on a computer by employing various controllers. He also uses analog and digital electronics. He is a founding member of Islak Köpek, Turkey’s pioneer free improvisation group, which is regarded as the band that started the free improvisation scene in Turkey. He composes and designs sounds for dance, theater, installations and film. He collaborates with dancers, video artists and spoken word artists.^[2]

Selected Projects

A Christmas Cage: tribute to John Cage

Korhan Erel and Tanya Kalmanovitch organized a concert in remembrance of John Cage in his 100th birth year in 2012. The tribute concert performed by Tanya Kalmanovitch, Anthony Coleman, Serra Yılmaz, Tolga Tüzün, Ayşenur Kolivar, Gökçe Akçelik, Şevket Akıncı and Korhan Erel on 29 December 2012 at Borusan Music House.^[3]

David Rothenberg & Korhan Erel - Berlin Bülbül

David Rothenberg met Erel during his one-year residency in Berlin. Berlin is one of the most important cities in Europe for nightingales, which is one of the key routes of immigration from Africa through Europe in the spring. David Rothenberg and Erel started to improvise with nightingales in Berlin's parks at midnight. The first concert held on May 9, 2014 and this concert's recordings used for the album Berlin Bülbül in 2015. The album launch concerts happened in Borusan Music House (Istanbul) on 3rd April, 2015 ^{[4] [5] [6]} and in Sammlung Hoffman (Berlin) on 10th May, 2015.^[7]

Since 2014, Rothenberg and Erel are playing with nightingales every May in Berlin.

The Liz

The Liz is a power trio comprising Liz Allbee (amplified trumpet, voice, text, video, stage design), Liz Kosack (synthesizer, voice, masks, puppets) and Korhan Liz Erel (computer, electronics, sound design, voice). The projects is the story of transformations and multiples: a maiden Sphinx, Anubis the dog of death, and Oedipus, as narrated by Kathy Acker. Drawing from traditional Greek myth, as well as Jean Cocteau’s ‘Infernal Machine’ and Acker’s ‘Blood and Guts in High School’, The Liz translates the riddles of the Sphinx into an engine for the musical re-production of resistance, and of subliminal and mythic resonance.

The liz premiered “Book of Birds” at Quiet Cue on 30 April 2016. It is also performed at Moers Festival^[8] in 2016 summer and broadcast live via Arte television channel online.^[9]

Albums

References