Deniz Mahir Kartal

The multi-instrumentalist Deniz Mahir Kartal plays Duduk, Kaval and other traditional instruments, as well as Saxophone, Clarinet, Çağlama and Guitar. Making traditional Anatolian music since the age of five, he studied Turkish Folkdance and music at the Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University. Nowadays, he is based in Berlin and works on a wide variety of projects dedicated to diverse musical genres, ranging from traditional to classical, jazz, modern and electro.

His co-operations include Babylon Orchestra, A.G.A. Trio, Cenk Erdoğan, Sarp Maden, Ah! Kosmos, Hakan Vreskala, İpek İpekoglu, Elif, Aynur Doğan, Zigan Aldi, Derya Yıldırım, Ensemble Resonanz, Volkan İncüvez, Olcay Bayır, Taner Akyol and many others. Deniz performs his music all over Europe and Turkey.

He also writes film scores, arranges music and teaches Duduk at the University of Hildesheim. In his solo project KafaNar, he fuses traditional Anatolian music played live on his instruments with electronic beats, loops and vocals, creating a hypnotic danceable sound and a memorable live performance.