Türkiye’s first “Music Village” project was successfully held in its 12th year in the historic town of Mustafapaşa, in collaboration with Kapadokya University, Mustafapaşa Municipality, and KAPSİNDER. Based on the organic bond that music establishes with nature, the festival brought together artists from different disciplines, master performers, and young musicians, enlivening the historic streets with melodies.
Approaching music not merely as a performance practice but as a philosophy and a way of life, the Music Village once again traced traditional sounds that are on the verge of disappearing this year. During the event, where local music practices recorded through the field research of the Music Village team were examined, the decades of experience of master figures were passed down to new generations. Young musicians, under the guidance of expert instructors, engaged in both theoretical and practical production processes in line with the principle of “not just taking the stage, but creating stages.”
The comprehensive workshop and training program, organized in two periods, offered participants a rich learning environment. In the sessions, which also included vocal and maqam training as well as rhythmic compositions, the sounds of a vast geography were examined under the guidance of master figures. Within the scope of the workshops, in-depth studies were conducted on traditional Black Sea music with Birol Topaloğlu, Balkan melodies with Richard Laniepce, the Greek folk music repertoire with Chrysanthi Gkika, and Bozlak culture with Salih Gündoğdu. Additionally, Maya Perest shared her knowledge and experience in songwriting with the participants, while Zelişah shared her insights on the traces of women’s voices in folk music, Efrén López Sanz on collective performance in modal music, and Levent Soy and Zîlan Kaki on the dances of the population exchange.
The public concerts, held in the historic and open-air venues of Mustafapaşa between July 10-15 for the first period and July 17-22 for the second period, concluded with high attendance. These free live performances, starting at 20:30 every evening throughout the festival, enlivened the streets of the village with music. The audience witnessed an unforgettable musical feast where both local music and universal melodies were masterfully blended.
