Renown as one of the world’s preeminent Middle-Eastern musicians and composers , who plays a wide range of wind, string, percussion and electronic instruments but he is best known for his concerts with the flute-like ney, but also plays the piccolo-like kaval, the double reed zuma, oud and baglama
His music is rooted in tradition but has been influenced by contemporary sounds He views his approach as “cosmic “ and create an ideal world where old and new cultures commingle and time is suspended in the One Truth of music .Like Omar Faruk himself, his music symbolizes diversity in unity. Born in Turkey,to a musical family ,he stayed true to his folkloric roots but was also profoundly influenced by his meeting with mystical Mevlevi Dervishes, the ancient Sufi order which became another source of inspiration, developing his own style with the mystical sound of the Sufi flute ney and includes inspiration from electronic music
The fateful meeting with Brian Keane on 1988 was about to launch Omar Faruk into the world music scene .He has since established himself as one of greatest and important personalities of oriental music A multi-instrumentalist par excellence ,he has collaborated with a number of leading musicians of international repute such as jazz trumpeter Don Cherry , ex-Cream rock drummer Ginger Baker, the late Ofra Haza, Jasmine Levy ,keyboard player Karl Berger, percussionists Peter Erskine, Trilok Gurtu, Bill Laswell, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Michael Askill, Glen Velez, lute player Ara Dinkjan, oud and violin virtuoso Simon Shaheen, Mike Mainieri, Bustan Abraham, Jai Uttal, Mitzie Collins, steel drummer Alfred St. John, Romanian panflute sensation Damian Draghici, Greek violin player Evanthia Reboutsika, famous clarinet Petroloukas Halkias, Pontiac lira new generation player Lazos Ioannidis, Tomatito and many others, always emphasizing in his performances the power of music to unite people ,regardless of political boundaries
He has contributed to numerous film and TV scores, and to many recordings including world sacred music albums and has been touring extensively through Europe, Middle East, Australia, North and South America
