Lâmekân Ensemble is a young classical Turkish music sextet founded in 2011 by Belgian ‘ûd player and musicologist Tristan Driessens. Their first critically acclaimed album (Gülzar-ı Vefâ / Garden of Fidelity – Music of the Ottoman Court) was published in 2014 (M&MT, Istanbul) and was successful both in Turkey and Europe. The ensemble gave concerts in BOZAR Brussels, Philharmonie de Liège, Bağlarbaşı Kültür Merkezi, Albert Long Hall (Istanbul), etc, performing with the finest representatives of classical Ottoman music, including Derya Türkan, Necati Celik, Burcu Karadağ and Murat Aydemir. With an international setting featuring first class musicians from both Turkey and Europe, Lâmekân Ensemble invites Turkish and Western audiences to (re)discover the musical heritage from the Ottoman empire. In 2015, Lâmekân Ensemble was selected to officially represent Turkey at the International Mugham Festival of Azerbaijan, where they were awarded the third price in the vocal category.
In 2015, a 50 minute documentary about the Lâmekân Ensemble, intitled My Place is Nowhere, was filmed and directed by Turkish film maker Ersen Kiyga. The documentary enjoyed initial broadcasting through the Al Jazeera channel in Spring 2017. In the same year, the group released a new (double) album intitled The Book of Lovers (Cypres Records).
“Without place”, this name, given to an ensemble formed by musicians coming from diverse horizons, is very significant. Lâmekân Ensemble in an initiative which eloquently proves that true musical passion rises beyond all cultural, religious, and geographical borders. (Kudsi Erguner)
Tristan Driessens: oud, artistic direction, Ridvan Aydinli: vocals & ney, Muhittin Kemal Temel: kanun, Ruben Tenenbaum: violin, Simon Leleux: percussion, Robbe Kieckens: percussion.
Featured artists: Derya Türkan: kemençe, Tcha Limberger: violin, viola & vocals, Bora Uymaz: vocals, Burcu Karadağ: ney, Murat Aydemir: tanbur, Necati Çelik: oud, Cellaleddin Çelik: tanbur.