Arslan Hazreti( Aler) was born in Tabriz, Iran in 1976. He started to learn kamancha at the age of thirteen and took mugham lessons from Cavit Murtezaoglu. The artist, engaging in the Iran and Azerbaijan culture simultaneously, have found the opportunity to internalize the mughams and traditional musics of both regions. When he was 18 years old, he took part in an professional competition in International Fajr Festival where he participated with a kamancha of his own production and came first across the famous Iranian professionals. In final stage of festival, he performed with masters such as Nosret Fateh Ali Khan and Aghakhan Abdullayev. He produced the first five- stringed kamancha in 1996 and with this kamancha he went to the Baku and took kamancha lesson from Masters like Fahrettin Dadaşov and AdaletVezirov. He has been living in Istanbul since 2004. He took part in various projects. Some of these projects are The Way It Is, Virtuosi and CavitMurtezaoğlu, Orrient Expressions, String and Skin. Also he worked with well-known artists such as Susan Deyhim, AynurDoğan, Richard Horowitz, YurdalTokcan, VamikMemmedaliyev, YinonMuallem, ŞirinPancaroğlu, FeryalÖney.

Birol Topaloğlu was born in 1965 in Rize (A city in Black Sea Region of Turkey). He graduated from the Middle East Technical University- Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department and worked in this field for a while, and afterwards he focused on his works of music. He quit his job to play traditional Black Sea music. He began playing bağlama at the age of 10, but he started playing traditional Black Sea instruments like tulum and kemençe in the upcoming years. As well as playing, he contributed to the Black Sea music culture by his compilations. He played in eight different albums and participated in many festivals and concerts both in country and abroad. He continues his works in Arhavi. (A district in Black Sea region).

Workshop Title: Traditional Black Sea Region Music

Description: Birol Topaloğlu will share his experiences which he has gone through during his works of compilation of Laz music and also carry out presentations regarding local voice technics, Eastern Black Sea Region musical language and cultural diversity. He will explain bağlama’s effects on Black Sea music in tulum and kemençe workshop as well as he will carry out a session on horon (Traditional Black Sea Region dance). He will share some of his private compilations which are from Trabzon, women’s voice recordings from Kizirnos (Kayacık) Village.

Born in Athens in 1996, Chrysanthi Gkika studied the classical piano and Greek traditional folk music and dances as a child, and began playing the kemence of Istanbul at the age of 13 under the instruction of Stratis Psaradellis, Sokratis Sinopoulos and Derya Turkan. She is a graduate student of the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki and has received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the Department of Music Science and Art specializing on studies on Istanbul kemence and Greek Traditional Music.From 2016 she has been teaching the kemence in several conservatories in Greece and offering workshops for Labyrinth Musical Workshop and Labyrinth Online. Chrysanthi has collaborated with renowned musicians and ensembles throughout the world including Ross Daly, Kudsi Erguner, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Efren Lopez, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Greek Radio Television Symphony Orchestra and others.

Workshop Title: Greek repertoire of Istanbul and Asia Minor

Description: This workshop will focus on examining and applying the folk repertoire of the Greek population living in Istanbul and Anatolia until the 20th century, and especially Greek songs and rhythmic instrumental melodies. Since it is a seminar open to all instruments, emphasis will be placed on both melodic/modal and rhythmic analysis of each melody that the group will play.

He is the member of a Georgian family which moved to Anatolia more than one century ago. Born in Nazilli, 1956. He studied in Mimar Sinan University Master Architecture department. He was aware about how to keep the Georgian Music alive in the times that Georgian Music was about to be forgotten by Georgians who were living in Turkey, for that he started the projects such as Kafdağı Music Communities. Later on, he worked on the creation of Maçahela Elders Choir and he had the chance to bring Georgian folk songs to light which were forgotten for a long while. "Georgian Art House" was his dream project ever and he planted its first seeds in 2011. Since then, Georgian Art House is not only a place for musical events; but also a school for painting, dance, traditional and classical instruments, also a "home" that anyone can learn Georgian language.

Workshop Title:Traditional Polyphonic Georgian Music, Panduri, Salamuri and Polyphonic Georgian Melodies Workshop

Description:İberya ÖZKAN MELAŞVILI, known for his deep researches on Georgian and Caucasian Music for many years, besides his seminar titled Traditional Polyphonic Georgian Music, Bursa İnegöl Hayriye Village ( and Artvin Borcka Maçaheli (Camili) Valley (continued) old people's choirs will make presentations. In addition, a workshop will be held on Polyphonic Georgian Melodies with panduri (string) and salamiri (wind), which are ancient traditional Georgian instruments, which will also include guitar and accordion.

Merih Aşkın is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and vocalist. His first contact with music was his meeting with baglama in Elazığ, where he spent his childhood. The strong relationship he established with this instrument caused him to understand and perform the types of music performed in Anatolia. After many years, he gave his place to the guitar and fretless guitar. Having met Erkan Oğur, the musician has worked with a master musician on fretless guitar and executive music for 3 years. In the same years, he also worked on jazz and Anatolian Music. In 2012, he started his graduate education at ITU Turkish Music State Conservatory Musicology Department. At this school, he studied Jazz Theory and Makam Music with musicians such as Nail Yavuzoğlu. In 2013, his first album "SIRET" was released by KALAN MÜZİK, one of the most important record companies in Turkey. In this album, he had the opportunity to work with very important musicians such as Erkan Oğur, Derya Türkan, Ayşe Tütüncü, Volkan Hürsever, Murat Aydemir, Cenk Erdoğan, Ercüment Orkut. Using a multi-instrument skillfully, the musician realized his childhood dream of combining Anatolian sayings and compilations with jazz harmony and arrangement. He gave concerts at festivals and jazz clubs in Istanbul and various cities with Siret. In 2014, he composed the music for the theater play "Hak" in cooperation with Istanbul "After Six Theater" and Germany "Theatre an der Ruhr", and for 2 years he performed on stage with his instrument and voice in cities such as Istanbul, Cologne, Brussels, Luxembourg. gave performances. In 2015, it was nominated for the Afife Theater Awards in the category of the most successful theater music of the year. In the same years, the musician gave concerts in various cities, primarily in Istanbul, with Ayşe Tütüncü's Duo and Quartet projects, as well as many musicians such as Volkan Hürsever, Turgut Alp Bekoğlu, Mircan Kaya, Hüsnü Arkan, Erkan Oğur, Derya Türkan, Mehmet Akbaş, Cenk Erdoğan He has performed many recording and stage performances as a guitarist, fretless guitarist and arranger. In December 2015, his second album "TERENNÜM", which has a new understanding of melody, rhythm and sound with a fretless guitar, met with the audience again under the label of KALAN MÜZİK. This album, which was evaluated in the world music class, was an extension and explanation of Merih's musical journey and personal world. The musician, who sang 9 instrumental original compositions with fretless guitar and acoustic guitars in this album, also sang an Armenian Folk Lament called "Gulo", which was written about the 1915 tragedy and dedicated to those who could not live where they were born. Important musicians from Jordan such as Ghassan Abu Haltam (clarinet), Derya Türkan (classical kemençe), Volkan Hürsever (double bass), Koray Üsgülen (piano), and Hasan Gözetlik (trumpet and trombone) accompanied him during the Terennüm. In addition, Swedish sound engineer Lars Nilsson, who also works with international companies such as Act, Ecm , created an extraordinary sound by mixing and mastering Terennüm at “Nilento Studios” in Gothenburg. In this album, master actress Tomris İncer, who passed away in October 2016, gave life to a text by Merih called "this is the story of humankind..." with his unique voice. Merih Aşkın, who gave concerts in cities such as Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Albania in 2016, took the stage at the Kosovo Jazz Festival in 2017 with her album "Terennüm". In 2018, he was the music director and arranger of the album "Red Rose" published by UCM as a duo with vocalist Mircan Kaya. In 2019, the arrangement and interpretation of Aşık Mahzuni Şerif's unique work "Bitmez Tükenmez Geceler" was released as a single on the Kalan Music label. In September 2021, Merih Aşkın met with the audience once again with her third solo album "Lovers Doesn't Happen Hile". After the albums ''Siret'' in 2013 and ''Terennüm'' released in 2015, the album released again with the label of Kalan Music, includes ten pieces of various lovers who lived in Anatolia, such as Neşet Ertaş, Aşık Veysel, Mahzuni Şerif, Sadık Miskini, Hasan Kaplani. saying and folk song took place. Merih Aşkın accompanies Kerem Can Aslan in Percussion, Şervan Ayaz in Violin, Caner Malkoç in Clarinet, Ali Saran in Rebab in the album, where all the pieces are arranged and performed by Merih Aşkın in a unique way. Mixing and Mastering processes of the album recorded in Kalan Music Studios were carried out by Zeynel Günbek and Alican Özbuğutu. In another piece in the album, Ali Rıza Albayrak, one of the important and creative musicians of Anatolian Music, was the guest of Merih Aşkın with his voice and saz. Merih Aşkın still continues to perform as composer, arranger and stage-recording.

Workshop Title: Arrangement and Sing/Play-Along Workshop - Instrument Workshops (Aşkın sazı and fretless Guitar)

Description:In the arrangement workshop, studies on the arrangement of a melody or piece, instrumentation techniques and performance will be done. The workshop is open to every instrument and vocalist, the works arranged with the participants during the workshop will be performed together at the end of the workshop. “Instrument Workshops (Love Instrument and Fretless Guitar)” In the instrument workshops, the knowledge and performance techniques of Merih Aşkın's own design, which he uses in various arrangements, including his own albums, will be studied. In addition, Fretless Guitar techniques (intonation, maqam, jazz lick&harmony) will be studied.

Osman Kırca was born in 1956, in Antalya, Kaş, Çavdır Village. Thanks to his father who used to play Üçtelli, he met this instrument. Osman Kırca who started playing when he was 15 was inspired by the masters and had the chance to improve his playing while he was shepherding in the mountains. He adapted local throat technics of singing which are about to disappear to his instrument, which is an amazing art and requires mastery and great effort. Osman Kırca met Ramazan Güngör, had him make his instruments and was inspired by him. In 2017 Summer, he met participants from both abroad and Turkey and carried out workshops on Üçtelli. In September 2017, he was one of the group members who carried Üçtelli to abroad for the first time. With this group, he visited Jeonju and Seoul in the South Korea giving concerts. And he played in the album titled “Melodies with Üçtelli From Anatolia” published in September 2017. He maintains a modest way of life in his village.

Workshop Title: Concert and Conversation on Three-Strings

Description: Our master will perform works on traditional three-string performance techniques in Anatolia, with the tradition of master-apprentice.

Sami Hosseini was born in 1986 in Iran. He started playing daf when he was 11. He took lessons from masters of this instrument for 5 years. After he completed his education, he gave lessons in different places of Iran and joined many different musicians in their concerts. He moved to İzmir, Turkey in 2012 and started giving daf lessons. He founded the group “Ahura Ritm Topluluğu” (Ahura Rhythym Community) in 2013 and in the same year he started studying at Ege University Instrument Making Department. He gave many concerts with Ahura Ritm Topluluğu and carried out workshops in summer camps, composed music for theatre and short films. He published a book titled “Daf Method” for beginners which marked a first in Turkey in this field. He is still working on the second and the third levels of the book.

Workshop Title: Rhythm Workshop

Description: The transition and relationship between rhythm in nature and rhythm in music, rhythm knowledge, rhythm studies with daf (erbane), tonbak, bendir, vine drum, darbuka, cajun, nagara and circle

Istanbul-born vocal artist Veka Aler focuses on Eastern music and the related vocal techniques. In the Eastern music, vocal studies are traditionally based on an educational system lacking musical notes called Meshk. However, in today’s world it is not pratical to use this method. In this sense, while using the the traditional Meshk educational method, Veka Aler also embarks on an academic system in accordance with those Eastern music vocal techniques. With this educational approach, the artist, who has a musical repertoire including Turkish, Kurdish, Azeri and traditional Iranian songs, aims to recognize and understand the traditional timbres in a bid to harmonize their authencity with her own vocal skills – as opposed to reflecting them directly. Her deep interest in music in her childhood encouraged Veka Aler to continue her musical studies at several cultural centers. In her early youth, she participated in a couple of choirs. She also attended vocal training and studied transverse flute.