Muammer Ketencoğlu

Muammer Ketencoğlu is a music traveler. Music was always a part of his family: the songs that his mother sang are as unforgettable to him as his uncle, the head of the town band. In 1973 he brought home an accordion that Ketencoğlu then fell in love with. Through his CDs, samplers and concerts, sometimes he takes us to a small town on the Aegean, sometimes to Armenia. This musician brings Turkish and Greek Zeybeks back to life again, after they had to leave their homes during the population exchange in 1923-1924. Ketencoğlu began his musician's life in schools for the blind in Izmir and Gaziantep/Turkey. His Greek music teacher would prove to have a significant influence on him. During his studies at the Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University, he became increasingly interested in folk music from different countries.