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
