“Echoes / Shadows” is composed as a 12 channel sound installation which formed by a choral piece and then turned into an EP album format. Similar to the initial sound installation version of the project, the album can be listened in loop, seamlessly.
The piece echoes one single line which is “for you and me”. This line has been chosen in order to underline the connection between the individual and its surroundings. Therefore it’s a reminder of every individual action and its impact on the whole environment, as in “butterfly effect”.
The installation was exhibited in Istanbul Cumhuriyet Art Gallery during the 16th Istanbul Biennale.
Composed and Produced by: Elif Karlidag & Utkucan Eken
Soprano: Marcella di Garbo
Alto: Katie Roberts
Tenor: Alexander Gebhard
Baritone: Ricardo Panela
Bass: Greg Link
“Aus Liebe” from J.S Bach’s St Mathew Passion, reimagined as an Electro-Acoustic piece. This piece was composed and produced as part of a collective body of work where several composers reimagined and created an electro-acoustic work based on different movements of the original piece.
Composed and Produced by Elif Karlidag & Utkucan Eken
Soprano: Kirsty Oneill
Oboe & Cor Anglais: Catherine Underhill
Flute: Ceylan Incik
Electromagnetic Fielwave was produced with the recording materials that were captured during Nonclassical’s Fielwave Workshop.
This piece dominantly uses electronic waves that surrounds our daily sonic space which we can’t hear in natural ways. But they exist and they surround us all the time. As being able to transmit the electromagnetic waves into our hearing range with using electromagnetic microphones, we captured the unheard side of our sonic environment. Therefore we wanted to use these hidden sounds of our urban soundscape and create an electro-acoustic work with it.
Imagination written on a poem by Phillis Wheatley who was the first published African-American female poet. Sold into slavery at the age of seven and transported to North America against her will, she was bought by the Wheatley family, who recognised her literary ability and gave her unprecedented education for an enslaved person and a female. “On imagination” is a poem about the power of imagination. Wheatley employs art as a means of freeing the mind and the muse. In the music we hear a continual E flat, which represents the idea of life as a never ending circle. With imagination, we can “soar in the sky” or “travel as high as we wish”. However, the anguish of injustice and inequality remain achingly present throughout the music, and are represented with dramatic glissandos and chaotic intervals.
The piece was premiered at Kings Place London.
Composed by Elif Karlidag
Soprano: Elinor Jane Moran
Piano: Elspeth Wilkes
We are Utkucan Eken and Elif Karlidag, composer duo from London, working together under the roof of our collective ensemble ELSE (East London Sound Ensemble). Together we mainly compose and perform electro-acoustic and contemporary music. As ELSE, we create and perform in various interdisciplinary projects from sound installations to audiovisual projects and interactive music performances.
Elif Karlidag is a composer, conductor and pianist. Karlidag has started her musical education at a very young age in Bucharest/Romania. She studied composition with Istemihan Taviloglu at Izmir DEU State Conservatoire, where she completed her Masters degree in composition with distinction. She has worked with prolific composers such as Michael Nyman and currently she is assisting Jocelyn Pook. As a versatile musician she performs with her alternative classical ensemble (ELSE-East London Sound Ensemble) as well as various classical music groups. Her previous collaborations include various multicultural performers and artists such as Marguerite Humeau and Scratch Orchestra. Some of her major concerts took place at The Royal Festival Hall, Kings Place London, Barbican Centre, St John Smith Square, Morley College, Southwark Cathedral, Actor’s Church in Covent Garden.
Utkucan Eken is a London-based composer and music producer who primarily works for screen and interactive media. He composes and produces music within electronic and digital environments in a diverse variety of genres. His music education started at the Fine Arts High School in Turkey where he studied piano and cello. He continued his education within the music technology field and completed the Design of Audio Arts Programme with honours at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul. Following his BA (Hons) degree he has completed the MA Audio Production programme with distinction at the University of Westminster, London where he also has been the recipient of the 2016 John Leckie Award for Innovation in Audio Production. He worked in many interdisciplinary projects and composed music for media.