Yaren Ensemble

Yaren Ensemble is an Authentic Turkish Folk Music duo founded by Çağrı Haksöz and Gerardo Razumney in New York City. Yaren performed over 20 concerts between 2000-2004 on stages such as [http://www.mindspring.com/~ginbirch/ZU/au17.htm Annual Golden Festival] , [http://www.caffevivaldi.com/ Caffe Vivaldi] , [http://www.bowerypoetry.com/ Bowery Poetry Club ] among others.
Çağrı Haksöz sings and plays saz (a long-necked string instrument with three sets of strings and movable frets) and tar (an Azeri string instrument), Gerardo Razumney plays bendir (a frame drum), darbuka (a vase-shaped hand drum), and davul (a base drum played with sticks), all traditional Turkish percussion instruments.

The fundamental mission of Yaren Ensemble is to bring the most authentic styles and songs of Turkish folk music to the 21st century audience. The repertoire contains songs from the Balkan region to the Caucasus, covering every region of Turkey with its distinctive characteristics.

An informal reviewer of the Golden Festival 2003 stated the following regarding Yaren's music:

"Yaren’s music was quieter and more meditative than any of the other performers I caught, almost all of whom were dance-oriented."
Scott Gianelli
[http://www.greenmanreview.com www.greenmanreview.com]