Egemen Kesikli

Turkish American music educator, composer, and multidisciplinary artist Dr. Egemen Kesikli received his Doctorate in Composition from the University of Colorado Boulder, his Master’s from the University of Texas at Austin, and his Bachelor’s in Music Theory & Composition from St. Olaf College. His mentors over the years have included Carter Pann, Timothy Mahr, Özkan Manav, Salih Ağca, Sonia Seeman, and Güher & Süher Pekinel. His work has been recognized by ASCAP, the Beethoven Club, and the Minnesota Music Educators Association, among others. Egemen’s recent projects include Chroma, a multi-movement immersive electroacoustic performance created during the ATLAS B2 Creative Residency in collaboration with composer and visual artist Kevin M. Olson; Hauntologies for voice and electronics, recorded at the TANK Center for the Sonic Arts; and The Undreaming, a miniature opera commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera with libretto by Zachary Foster.

As a conductor, Egemen studied with Steven Amundson, Robert Carnochan, and Timothy Mahr in the United States, and with Wolfgang Harrer in Vienna and Mete Sakpınar in Istanbul. He served as assistant conductor to Christopher Aspaas and Michael Hanawalt with the Viking Chorus at St. Olaf College in 2011 and 2012, and led the ensemble at the 8th Annual Collegiate Men’s Chorus Festival and the 2011 ACDA Minnesota Conference. He has guest-conducted music by contemporary composers such as JP Merz, Gracie Fagan, Jim Simmons, and numerous student composers. A passionate advocate for Turkish makam music, Egemen has also premiered new works for makam singing and traditional Turkish instruments by composers Conor Abbott Brown, Jesse Manno, and Eric Choate. Committed to community building through music, he also performs regularly at street festivals, fundraisers, and community events with his local band, Turkish Massage Owl, a multilingual ensemble performing in six languages of the broader West Asia.

Egemen currently serves as Instructor of Music Theory & Musicology at Colorado State University, and as the Artistic Director of SoundWorks at the University of Colorado Boulder, CU’s new-music concert series. He also creates educational content on Turkish makam music, and his Instagram series of transcription and analysis videos featuring Tanbûrî Cemil Bey, Udî Hrant, Yorgo Bacanos, Necdet Yaşar, Niyazi Sayın, and many others, are open-access resources for musicians, students, and scholars interested in makam and microtonality. 

When he is not composing, performing, or teaching, Egemen enjoys cooking and collaborating on arts projects with his family. He has three cats: MaoMao, Ada, and Albertine.