Taner Akyol

Born in Bursa in 1977, Taner Akyol made his first experiences with the Turkish long-necked lute Bağlama during his primary school years. From 1997 to 2003 he studied composition with Prof. Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hanns-Eisler Academy of Music, followed by additional studies as a master student with Prof. Walter Zimmermann at the University of the Arts, which he successfully completed in the summer of 2006.

As a Bağlama soloist and as a composer, Taner Akyol has received several awards, including the "Music Prize of Cultures in Berlin" at the musica vitale competition in 1998, the Hanns Eisler Prize for Composition and Interpretation of Contemporary Music the following year, and the international composition competition "global music - contemporary expression" in 2007. He has written commissioned works for festivals ("Istanbul in Berlin", "Randspiele" and "Klangwerkstatt") as well as an opera for the Komische Oper Berlin. Several CD releases by and with Taner Akyol are available on the enja records label, including "Birds of Passage", a CD with Maria Farantouri and - recently released - "Dance to the Sun" with the Taner Akyol Trio (Antonis Anissegos, David Kuckhermann and Taner Akyol).

He has been running the "ta Musikatelier" in Dieffenbachstraße in Berlin-Kreuzberg since 2004. In 2016, Taner Akyol accepted a teaching position as a lecturer for Bağlama at the Berlin University of the Arts. He has been teaching at the Popakademie since the winter semester 2021-22.