“Gülün’s music is by turns distant and immediate, often in the span of a single track.”
–Downbeat
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Biography
“In her style, influences from classical and contemporary music rife: pointillism, impressionism, low pitches, clusters, modal, atonal ... rich and vibrant, full of different colors and dynamics.”
–all.about.jazz
As a leading contemporary musician in Turkey, Selen Gülün has attained critical acclaim internationally, with her music performed in 20 countries worldwide, including the USA, Brazil, Japan, Cambodia, Pakistan, Russia, Mozambique, Australia, and across Europe. Gülün has released seven albums and five singles, among them Just About Jazz Live (recjazz, 2005), Selen Gülün Trio Sürprizler (recjazz, 2006), Selen Gülün by Selen Gülün (re, 2009), Answers (pozitif, 2010), Başka (linrecords, 2013), Kadinlar Matinesi (A.K. Müzik, 2017), Many Faces (iKi Muzik, 2019), Sea by Sea (iKi Muzik, 2019), Yollar (2020), Yavaş (2020), Daha Yavaş (2020), TRE (2021), Blue Band (2022), and Una Serata Sbagliata (2023).
Many Faces is Gülün’s duo album, recorded live in Japan and Italy, featuring artists Hakuei Kim (piano), Keisuke Ohta (violin), Issei Igarashi (trumpet), and Marcello Allulli (tenor saxophone). Notably, Answers reached #6 and Başka reached #4 on the Jazz Tokyo Weekly Chart. Kadinlar Matinesi (“The Women’s Matinee”) originated from Gülün’s concert series, showcasing the works of women composers in Turkey. Gülün’s electroacoustic album KAPI, in collaboration with her long-term Italian partners Marcello Allulli and Emanuele de Raymondi, represents a multicultural fusion. Her latest release, Blue Band, is a historic first in Turkish jazz, presenting a jazz combo orchestra in which she both performs and directs her own works. The Blue Band features nine distinguished musicians from the Turkish jazz scene, coming together to perform compositions that Gülün has created over 25 years.
Gülün’s compositions have been premiered by notable ensembles, including the Dartford Symphony Orchestra and the Vellinger String Quartet (UK), Ensemble TRIS (Austria), sa.ne.na Percussion Ensemble, and Istanbul Modern Music Ensemble (Turkey). She has earned numerous awards, such as the Charles Mingus Composition Award (USA, 1998), the British Council Visiting Arts Creative Collaboration in Music (UK, 2003), and the Fondazione Adkins Chiti: Donne in Musica’s Artist in Residence Award (Italy, 2011). Her book Women and Music in Turkey was commissioned by Fondazione Adkins Chiti: Donne in Musica (Rome) and was published in both English and Turkish by Istanbul Bilgi University Press in April 2019.
Gülün’s academic journey includes music studies at Istanbul University and Mimar Sinan University State Conservatories. She also graduated from Istanbul University’s Business Administration Department and earned her B.A. in Jazz Composition, graduating summa cum laude from the Berklee College of Music in 1998. Later, she obtained her Master’s in Music from Istanbul Technical University’s Center for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM). From 1998 to 2015, she taught Piano Performance, Music Theory, and Composition at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Music Department, and has lectured on new and contemporary music at institutions including Berklee College of Music (Boston), The New School (New York), Malmö Academy of Music, Utrecht School of the Arts, and TEDx Boğaziçi University.
LINKS:
Bandcamp | Facebook | YouTube | iTunes | SoundCloud | Spotify
Twitter/Instagram: @selengulun | Linktree
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