Ewell Concert Series presents Eymen Gürtan and Ensemble, 3/19 at 8pm, Ewell Recital Hall
by Music Staff
|
February 24, 2011
Eymen Gürtan is a master neyzen, a performer of the Ottoman-Turkish reed flute
known as the ney. A celebrated student of neyzen Niyazi Sayin, one of Turkey’s
greatest musical legends of the past century, Mr. Gürtan is part of an unbroken
musical lineage that stretches back over three centuries. Eymen Gürtan has
performed in over forty countries, touring extensively as the director and
primary neyzen for Mevlevi Sufi groups performing sema, a ceremony featuring the
ecstatic turning of “whirling dervishes.” Mr. Gürtan makes neys by hand and
performs on his own instruments. He will be joined in this concert by his wife,
Denise Gill-Gürtan, (a visiting scholar at William and Mary) who accompanies him on kanun, a Turkish trapezoidal zither.