Ipek Eginli - piano
Daniel Levin - cello

Daniel says (more on Daniel below):
“I heard about Ipek, went online, checked her music, and was immediately riveted. Her unique blend of incredible control and specificity concerning nuance and tone production combined with bountiful improvisational chops and creativity was captivating, and I felt that it would be a great idea to connect with her.

After a couple of days of texts, we had a plan: she would come to NC and perform three concerts: two with me and one on her own.

We met in person for the first time in February 2024 at Greensboro Project Space, a venue organized by the dancer Caitlyn Schraeder. We decided to start with solo pieces before jumping into the duo. This is something that I often like to do when performing with people who are new to me - it gives both the performers and the audience a chance to explore and inhabit the unique worlds of each individual artist before diving into the conversation between them, which can be much more complex. I played unamplified, and Ipek played her Nord Electro and used vocals and other electronics.

The next night, Ipek did a phenomenal solo set at the concert series we run out of our house, Sanctuary Series. It was great to hear her really stretch out—she seemed almost in a trance at times, and the audience was locked in. It was magical.

The following evening, we had another duo concert - but Ipek would play acoustic piano for this one, putting aside the electronics. It turned out to be an amazing Steinway grand - really exceptional. This was at Culture Mill in Saxapahaw, on a double bill with the band Streak of Tigers. After their set, Ipek and I again used the solo-solo-duo format. Even though we had played two nights before, it was to be the very first time we used acoustic piano, so we knew that we wanted the space that included solos the program provides.”

Ipek says (more on Ipek below):
“If you permit it, music can transport you to places you never knew existed.
In improvised music, you can journey to such places hand in hand, even as strangers.

Daniel and I did not know each other until we met to play within the next hour.

Our improvisations were true testaments to music being a sandbox where one could go barefoot and play, creating anything from simple to magnificent sandcastles together in an instant.

When Daniel plays, the cello metamorphoses to become a part of himself. Its sound becomes stronger and more grounded than one would have ever heard. His range of expression and freedom with it expand further every time he plays, so his improvisations feel as fresh as the first time you hear him play. His deep commitment to every sound he produces draws you in and captivates you from the first note.

I knew it would be a special musical journey, and indeed it was.
We exchanged more music between us than words.

What we created that night was playful, profound, and truly experimental.

We are improvisers, and we improvised together.
We are explorers, and we explored together.”

Ipek Eginli is a Turkish-American experimental sound artist and improviser who describes her music-making as “a process of a creation and a creation of a process.” Her ever-evolving creative process involves electroacoustic free improvisation on piano, voice, modular synthesizers, and no-input mixing boards. Eginli’s work is often described as adventurous, daring, playful, and vibrant. Watching her perform, one can witness a dynamic sonic exploration, effortlessly shifting between organic and mechanical sounds while evoking a range of emotions, from tender and soft to dark and explosive. She explores the convergence of acoustic and electronic sounds, blurring and, at times, overemphasizing the lines between the two to create surprising sonic illusions and interactions.

Her electroacoustic solo debut album will be released in June 2024, coinciding with her invitation to perform at the New York Electroacoustic Music Festival. Additionally, another solo album and an improvised duet album with cellist Daniel Levin are planned for late summer 2024.
In 2023, Eginli was awarded a composer-performer residency at the Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity in Canada. During the same year, she also received a prestigious grant from the largest theater company in the southeast, the Alliance Theater, as the lead artist for the multimedia project “Hold on To Your Names.” This project showcases the works of immigrant women artists from Turkey, Iran, and Colombia through sound, multimedia, and movement, aiming to empower immigrant women to embrace their given names and share their stories, fostering a greater understanding of their challenges and cultural identities through art.

As an entrepreneur and educator, she serves as the founder and director of PianoAlpharetta, a renowned piano academy located in Georgia, USA. This academy, with its 15-year-old history, offers comprehensive piano education to over 400 students, providing them with a forward-looking and creativity-fostering approach. In her role, she oversees all operations, collaborates closely with her staff, supervises faculty members, and orchestrates performances throughout the year.
Eginli holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Georgia, with a research emphasis on piano pedagogy. She also holds a master’s degree in piano performance from Purchase College, State University of New York, and a Bachelor’s degree from Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory in her hometown Istanbul, Turkey.
In the last two decades, Eginli has performed hundreds of solo, chamber, and orchestral performances at various renowned venues and festivals across Turkey, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, and numerous cities in the United States.

Cellist Daniel Levin is “one of the instrument’s most brilliant contemporary practitioners” (The Wire). He was born in Burlington, Vermont, and began playing the cello at the age of six. In 2001, he graduated with a degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music and arrived on the New York City jazz scene shortly thereafter. Since then, Daniel has developed his own distinctive voice as a cellist, improviser, and composer. Ed Hazell noted upon the release of Levin’s first record as a leader, “Cellist Daniel Levin is a major new voice on his instrument and in improvised music.”

Elements of European classical music, American jazz, microtonal and new music, and European free improvisation all figure prominently in his unique sound. He has performed extensively throughout the USA and Europe and has recorded more than 20 albums as a leader or co-leader, which can be found on Clean Feed, HatOLOGY, Not Two, Trost, Riti, Mahakala, and various other record labels. Daniel is a REMIC Microphones Artist Endorser.