Elif Sanchez released her first album titled “Elif Sanchez” on the 22nd of October through the Pasion Turca label on all digital platforms. The musician brings together Turkish Folk Music with her education on Classical Music and jazz in interpreting the most beloved folk songs of Anatolia and Azerbaijan.
Elif Sanchez comes from a musician family. She received her first music education from her family until the age of 10 and graduated from Istanbul University State Conservatoire with outstanding success award. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2017 after receiving The Bill Pierce Award and The Mediterranean Music Institute Award.
Elif Sanchez caught the attention of Javier Límon, who has won 14 Grammy Awards, during the time she spent in Boston and performed with “Mediant Collective” which she founded in 2015. She was invited to the “Refuge of Sound” project as a guest artist.
Sanchez’s first album consists of 9 pieces which include Anatolian and Azerbaijani folk sons such as “Ay Oğlan Yiğit Misin”, “Almanı Attım Xarala”, “Bağlamam Perde Perde” with her own interpretation and arrangements. She also recorded the Spanish song “Contigo Aprendi” written by Armando Manzanero for her album.
Elif Sanchez released her first album digitally through Pasion Turca, a label that has worked with Buika, Loreena Mckennitt, Monica Molina and Pink Martini. The musician says “This album is actually a 40 minute-long biography and shows who Elif really is. I grew up in Istanbul under the roof of the Anatolian culture. I lived in America for a long time. I spoke in English outside but our house always had Latin food and Spanish words. I have lived surrounded by more than one culture. This album represents all these lives and cultures. This album embodies world music elements such as jazz and Latin while also presenting Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs.”
The first single of the album was chosen to be “Ay Oğlan Yiğit Misin” which is one of the most beloved Turkish folk songs.
About Elif Sanchez
Elif Sanchez’s interest in music started in her hometown of Istanbul. She received her musical education from her family until the age of 10 and then attended Istanbul University’s State Conservatoire. She studied classical oboe and English horn during middle and high schools. She graduated from Istanbul University State Conservatoire with the outstanding success award.
The artist performed with Istanbul University State Conservatoire’s Symphony Orchestra when she was 16 and gave concerts in many historical venues and important concert halls such as Cemal Reşit Rey, Hagia Irene Museum and Yerebatan Cistern with them. She represented Turkey during the international event “FIMU-Festival International de Musique Universitaire” in Belford, France.
She continued her graduate studies at the same conservatoire in 2011 while also studying jazz vocals Bahçeşehir University’s Jazz Department with full scholarship. She worked with prominent jazz musicians such as Sibel Köse, Baki Duyarlar, Şevket Akıncı, Amy London, Maucha Adnet, Duduka Da Fonseca. She gave concerts in prestigious jazz clubs of Istanbul such as Nardis Jazz Club, Mitanni, Alt Jazz Club and 60m2.
Elif Sanchez decided to continue her studies in America in 2012 and moved to Boston. She was accepted in Berklee College of Music with a scholarship in 2013. She majored in jazz oboe and vocals in the performance department while minoring in Music Business. She performed with prominent musicians such as Pablo Ziegler, who is the pianist of Jacob Collier, Dream Theater, David Liebman, Terence Blanchard, Antonio Serrano, Tigran Hamasyan, Nobuo Uematsu, Guinga and Astor Piazzolla. She was invited to the Mediterranean Music Festival and Middle East Music Festival in consecutive years. She gave concerts in Boston Turkish Arts and Culture Festival as a guest musician. She performed in important concert halls and jazz clubs of Boston such as Boston Symphony Hall, Boston Opera House, Kresge Auditorium, Berklee Performance Center, The Red Room, The Middle East, The Lilipad, David Friend Hall, Ryles Jazz Club, Wally’s Jazz Club and Regattabar. Elif Sanchez also recorded with other musicians for their albums in Boston. These include Dream Theater “Breaking the Fourth Wall”, Matthew Nicholl “Della by Moolight”, Inigo Ruiz de Gordejuela “Surrogate Activities” and Alexander Anderson “Unidentified Fusion Orangement”.
Elif Sanchez (Photo: internet/unknown)
Elif Sanchez caught the attention of Javier Límon, who has won 14 Grammy Awards, during the time she spent in Boston and performed with “Mediant Collective” which she founded in 2015. She was invited to the “Refuge of Sound” project as a guest artist. She gave interviews and conducted shoots with El País, the most popular newspaper of Spain.
The first Mediant Collective album was released the same year. It was sponsored by the Mediterranean Music Institute and produced by Matthew Nicholl and Javier Límon. The band performed in Spain Formentera Jazz Festival as well as in Greece, Spain, Israel and Turkey in Nardis Jazz Club, Jimmy Glass Jazz Bar, Concert Hall of Philippos Nakas Conservatory, Concert Hall of Zosimaia, Levontin 7, The Yellow Submarine and Mitzpe Ramon Jazz Club.
Sanchez gave an interview to Latin America’s most popular international TV channel “Univision” in 2016 about her new project which combines Middle Eastern and Latin music and she recorded three pieces including one of her own. She gave concerts of this project in Pobre Diablo Jazz Club in Ecuador and Ananke Jazz Club. She also gave a week-long workshop in Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
She graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2017 after receiving The Bill Pierce Award and The Mediterranean Music Institute Award. She moved to New York and gave many concerts in Drom NYC, Rockwood Music Hall and The Well Brooklyn.
Elif Sanchez released her first album titled “Elif Sanchez” on the 22nd of October through the Pasion Turca label on all digital platforms. The musician brings together Turkish Folk Music with her education on Classical Music and jazz in interpreting the most beloved folk songs of Anatolia and Azerbaijan.
