| Art Profile |
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Hakan Ali Toker was born in Mersin in 1976. He began playing the cello at the age of 12 at Istanbul University State Conservatory. One year later, he transferred to the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts at Bilkent University, where he double-majored in piano and composition. In 1996, he went to Iceland to study piano with Ms. Ardottir. Toker then entered Indiana University School of Music, where he studied piano and composition as well as electronic music and jazz. Besides piano, he learned to play the kanun, the accordion and various other keyboard instruments.
Since his teenage years, Toker has performed numerous recitals and concerts in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Iceland, USA, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Bulgaria, Croatia, Australia and Hungary. When he was 17 years old, he played his own composition with the Sochi Municipal Orchestra in Russia. He also introduced Turkish orchestral and traditional music to the Russian public. Between 2000 and 2006, he gave concerts and participated in symposiums, festivals and various other activities in the United States, mainly with bands including Salaam, focusing on ethnic genres such as Middle Eastern, Central Asian and South American music. Toker began to accompany silent-films at Bloomington / Indiana movie-theaters. He also collaborated with numerous classical, jazz and world musicians; singers, dancers, poets, trapeze artists, jugglers, electronic and multi-media artists in many creative projects. He also became interested in avant-garde and experimental music.
After returning to Turkey in 2006, Toker founded the group "Tanini" with kanun player Tahir Aydoğdu and ney player Bilgin Canaz. In 2011, Toker gave the first recital in Turkey that featured traditional microtonal Turkish music on a specially tuned piano. He has also prepared and performed musical comedy shows separately for children and adults in the US and Turkey. He has composed over 100 works in classical, jazz, and traditional Turkish styles. Currently, Toker continues to record and give concerts and workshops as a soloist or with the group "Tanini" and other artists.
Reference: hakanalitoker.com, taninitrio.com
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