Goksel Yilmaz

The ensemble performs original compositions by its founder and lead artist, Göksel Yilmaz. Born in the Netherlands, Göksel studied classical guitar at the Conservatory of Enschede. He spent part of his youth in Antakya, the hometown of his parents. This ancient city, formerly known as Antioch, is located in an Arab region of southern Turkey. As a result, Göksel grew up closely connected to Dutch, Turkish, and Arab languages, cultures, and musical traditions.
Since its founding in 2006, the ensemble has released two albums and performed at numerous festivals, theatres, concert halls, and television and radio programmes across the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey, Indonesia, Switzerland, Germany, and Cyprus. Their performances have included major world music festivals such as the Music Meeting in Nijmegen and the Dunya Festival in Rotterdam, as well as internationally renowned venues including RASA in Utrecht and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Their debut album, Gezgin (The Traveller), consisting primarily of Turkish-language songs, was released in the Netherlands in 2011. Their second album, Kan Zaman (There Was a Time), is performed entirely in Arabic. The album is based on old cassette recordings of Göksel’s relatives singing traditional Arabic songs. Through Yilmaz’s elegant arrangements, the project pays tribute to the language and musical heritage of the Arab minority in Turkey.
As music reviewer Charlie Crooijmans of the Dutch television programme Vrije Geluiden observed: “The ensemble takes the Arabic songs from the cassettes and gives them a contemporary yet nostalgic twist. It is a wonderful call to sing together more often.”