Sónar brings electronic music to Istanbul

Sónar brings electronic music to Istanbul

ISTANBUL
Sónar, an international festival of electronic music that has been celebrated in cities around the world for the past 23 years, will meet audiences in Turkey for the first time later this month. 

Sónar organizes festivals every year in various cities, along with a three-day event in June in Barcelona called the International Festival of Advanced Music and Congress of Technology and Creativity. In previous years, it has traveled to Reykjavik, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, New York, London, Cape Town, Frankfurt, Seoul, Lisbon, Lyon, Hamburg, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Oakland, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Osaka, among other destinations around the world.

Sónar Istanbul will be held on March 24 and 25 at the Zorlu PSM with concerts on four stages, conferences, contemporary art exhibitions, as well as artistic and technological performances featuring local and foreign artists. 

Moderat, formed from the collaboration between Apparat and Modeselektor, two dominant representatives of Berlin’s electronic scene, will be one of the guests of Sónar Istanbul. The duo most recently released the album “Live,” a recording of a live performance in Berlin’s Velodrom that was sold out within minutes.

Another guest, renowned Irish singer, songwriter and producer Róisín Murphy, who has received critical acclaim for her most recent album, “Take Her Up To Monto,” will be on the stage at the event. 

Innovative DJ and producer Nina Kraviz, who is now one of the leading characters in electronic music, will also confirm her global status on the Sónar Istanbul stage amid the promise of something different and unique in her sets. 

Sam Shepard, or Floating Points, as he is known throughout the global electronic music scene, will also bring his gritty set to the festival.

A partner of Sónar for 13 years and curator of the Sónar Dome stage, SónarLab, presented by Red Bull Music Academy, will also host a carefully selected musical program including local and global names during the festival. 

Norwegian DJ and producer Prins Thomas, who combines house, minimal techno and jazz fusion in his music genre defined as space disco, will meet music fans at the SónarLab presented by Red Bull Music Academy, along with a prominent figure in dubstep, Scott Goodman, and a distinctive DJ from Germany, Helena Hauff. 

German DJ and music producer Stefan Kozalla, who uses the moniker DJ Koze on stage; Weval, a Dutch duo that consists of Harm Coolen and Merijn Scholte; British producer Clark; Austrian electronic duo HVOB; the duo Hanne, which consists of James Hatcher and Andy Clutterbuck; American producer Jason Chung’s project Nosaj; sound artist Tim Hecker; and Cola & Jimmu, a collaboration between Finnish musician/producer Jimi Tenor and American singer/composer/visual artist Nicole Willis, will be among the other foreign guests of the festival. 

Hey! Douglas, a talented DJ who has made a name in the night scene of Istanbul; Vildan Gündüz, who has a set that is heavy on minimal techno, house, tech house and techno; Style-ist, one of the most unique DJs of Turkey with his eclectic sets; Büber, who is known for his sets that feature techno, tech house and house music; Villette, a London-based producer of techno and electronica; Fasitdaire, who is known for his radio programs; Mabbas, one of the most experienced names in the Turkish electronic music scene who is known for his striking techno sets; Fuchs and Cervus, two prominent figures of Turkey’s electronic music scene, as well as Doğu Orcan, who is known for his sets that have the overtone of techno, disco and electronica, will also take the stage at Sónar Istanbul as local guests.