Research highlights:

• Developed innovative ways to integrate Turkish makam with Western classical and contemporary music.
• Inspired over 30 new musical works.
• Changed teaching and performance practices for musicians and composers internationally.
• Supported transcultural music initiatives for disadvantaged groups in Türkiye.

Transcultural compositions and performances that bridge diverse musical traditions have becoming increasingly prominent within the 21st century.  

However, one of the most difficult challenges has been integrating Turkish makam music characterised by highly complex ornamentation and different tunings with Western traditions.  

The University of Bristol's Beyond East and West (BEW) project led by Professor Michael Ellison has successfully overcome these challenges, enriching music practices, performances and teaching methods. 

Breaking new ground 

One of the major issues the BEW project tackled is the difference in learning processes. Turkish makam music is traditionally learned through meşk, a form of oral transmission, while Western classical music relies heavily on written notation. BEW workshops attended by Turkish and Western musicians addressed this by incorporating the opposite learning process for each group of musicians. This two-way approach promoted interactive and intensive exchange, leading to a more equal valuation, understanding and mutual respect among participants. . 

Another major breakthrough was Professor Ellison’s development of a new notation system that merged existing makam practices with contemporary Western composers’ ‘microtonal’ notation, providing a common framework for collaboration.  

Inspiring new works and performances 

BEW’s research and workshops have had a transformative impact, directly contributing to many new works by both Turkish and Western composers. These works have bought rarely-heard makam sounds to Western ensembles, creating new transcultural sound worlds. Professor Ellison himself composed several new works as part of the BEW project, including a new opera Deniz Küstü (The Sea-Crossed Fisherman) which premiered at Istanbul Music Festival to much acclaim. 

BEW’s research and programmes have also inspired younger generations to create a burst of new commissions and works. Since BEW began, at least 20 new works have been composed using makam instruments by students in Ankara, Istanbul and Bristol, all of whom reported feeling empowered to compose transtraditional pieces more freely. 

Among many other initiatives, BEW performances in nine countries (Latvia, Germany, Serbia, Spain, France, UK, Italy, Türkiye and India), together with presentations and keynotes at conferences in Germany, Spain and the UK have also helped to enhance public understanding of transcultural music practice throughput Europe and beyond.  

Wider and lasting impact  

To ensure long-lasting impact, BEW has created the first international online resource for composition on Turkish Instruments. The core of this open access site, which composers now used for writing new pieces, is a practical instrumentation guide for twenty five different Turkish instruments and voice types, with sections on aesthetic and technical issues and various composers’ approaches to transcultural music making. 

Significantly, BEW has also inspired new initiatives that promote a diverse, equal and culturally aware society. The Transtraditional Istanbul network (TTI), based on and inspired by BEW methodologies, brings together five key partners in Istanbul dedicated to the preservation and development of traditional Turkish musical cultures in danger of disappearing – particularly Bozlak and women’s throat songs from the Teke region.  

The TTL project brings this music into a contemporary, urban musical discourse.  Its workshops also now support the development and empowerment of culturally underrepresented and disadvantaged groups - including youth, women and girls - to powerfully influence the musicians of tomorrow.