Music I Am #42 – Nağme Yarkın, performer & composer
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The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:
I started playing the piano at the age of 3, and my life was spent in a musical family, from grandfather to me, surrounded by music and art. I don’t remember, but my mother was singing in a choir when she was expecting me, so I probably understood it then. I knew this when I was born, but I couldn’t remember, maybe it could have been in earlier times.
An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:
Mindfulness, communication skill and doing every single moment one hundred percent wholeheartedly. -Mindfulness is a skill that develops while living life, and this is reflected in our music. It brings with it the indescribable enthusiasm of being in the moment and being one with the music and being music. -Communication ability brings with it listening to each other on stage and real communication. -And giving yourself with all your self while doing music brings originality, connection and realism in music.
Two ways you stay motivated:
Feeling connected to self & source and peacefully being alone at home.
Latest Project:
Baturay Yarkın Trio featuring Nağme Yarkın – “Fiery Desert”. We released a maxi single consisting of 3 songs in October 2023. The entire album “Dream Again” will be released in soon. All the works in this album composed by my brother, jazz and tango pianist Baturay Yarkın. We founded this group, including the jazz trio and me, in 2016. We play our own compositions, we blend traditional and folk music from Turkiye with jazz music, and we also have jazz standards in our repertoire. Playing this music with my instrument, the Istanbul kemence, attracts great attention in all the festivals and concerts we have attended so far. We have performed this project, in which we perform Anatolian music and jazz music without spoiling their essence and their principles in many festivals in Europe and the USA.
What inspired it:
Combination of Eastern & Western cultures, originality and individuality. With this project, we would love to blend Eastern and Western music and explain that we can all live in harmony, without discrimination, as a bridge. As people who share our beautiful world, this planet, our dream is to live freely and in peace, despite all our differences and by expanding our colors with these differences. None of us have to look alike or be the same. How nice it is to see something new every day, how nice it is to hear something new every day. With this band, we have a chance to participate in environments where we can share our different cultures eachother, and this really nourishes our music.
Who’s on it:
My brother, Baturay Yarkin, with whom we grew up together in the same house and brought together our instruments based on different roots, is the owner of this project as a pianist, composer and arranger. I take part in kemence of Istanbul, vocal and composer. Yarkın Tuncer is on bass and Mert Can Bilgin is on drums. Ozan Sarıer does the mixing and mastering of our album. Our album is published by Netherlands-based AudioMaze.
How do you discover new music?
I’m curious about what my non-musician friends listen to, and they can give me updates on this subject. We also share music with my musician friends and my students. Also I listen to my favorite radio stations and it helps me to discover new music.
One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:
Living : Erkan Oğur (Fretless Guitar & Guitar & Vocal & Bağlama performer).
Dead : Tanburi Cemil Bey (Kemenche of Istanbul & Tanbur & Cello performer & composer).
Where can we find you online?
Online platforms where I share the most are Spotify, YouTube and Instagram.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/41goFHVHIkQ22wQrCYUUbr?si=-7qUGM0bQEaLZhu_LYHfyg Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NagmeYarkn/videos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nagmeyarkin/
Upcoming Event you’d like to share?
International Guitar Festival in Ankara / Turkiye – December 2023. Here we will perform with our duo, which we established together with Turkiye’s leading guitarist Erdem Sökmen. Our duo’s album “Duende” will be released on all digital platforms in December 8, 2023.
