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    Cengiz Arslanpay

    Cengiz Arslanpay

    Cengiz Arslanpay

    Cengiz Arslanpay

    From heavy metal via Turkish tradition to an idiom all of his own

    Discovering the Ney 

    The name Cengiz Arslanpay is indisputably Turkish, but Cengis spent most of his youth in the Dutch Bible Belt, surrounded by a circle of all-Dutch friends. Guitar and piano were his first instruments; heavy metal, psychedelic rock and abstract jazz his first musical loves.

    It was only while studying sound design at the conservatorium that he happened upon the qanun, an Eastern version of the zither. And when that qanun – a rickety second-hand specimen – snuffed it, a friend introduced him to the instrument that Arslanpay would permanently make his own: the ney.

    Turkish tradition as inspiration 

    The sound of this seemingly simple reed flute is completely determined by breathing and resonance, something that fascinated Cengis immediately on account of his background in sound design. In the idiosyncratic musical idiom that Arslanpay has developed since then, the Turkish tradition has formed a rich source of inspiration, but certainly not a straitjacket. ‘Culture is fluid,’ he comments. ‘People who stick to traditions often have no idea what they are actually preserving. It’s usually an illusion they are clinging onto, something that never existed in the first place. For me, tradition has a right to exist only if it is constantly reinterpreted in the present.’

     

    Cengiz Arslanpay during a Music Meeting Concerts in Hortus, Nijmegen. Photo: Gerard Verschooten. 

     

    Line-up 

    Cengiz Arslanpay - Ney 

     

    Discover more!

    Get to know Cengiz by checking out his Music Meeting Concert, his Music Meeting Talks interview about his special instrument and his music and by reading the article 'Tradition calls for contemporary interpretation.' 

     

    All Ears Concerts Talks Articles 2021 Turkey
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    MM Concerts - Cengiz Arslanpay plays Thin Air (comp. Calliope Tsoupaki)

    Mon 1 Nov

    MM Concerts - Cengiz Arslanpay plays Thin Air (comp. Calliope Tsoupaki)

    MM Talks - Cengiz Arslanpay

    Mon 1 Nov

    MM Talks - Cengiz Arslanpay

    Cengiz Arslanpay: Tradition calls for contemporary interpretation

    Cengiz Arslanpay: Tradition calls for contemporary interpretation

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