Mediterranean Music Band from İzmir
Band Members
Salut de Smyrne Trio
Serap Çiğdem Şahin - Vocal & Percussion
Serap Çiğdem Şahin was born in 1988 in Ankara. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Finance, at Manisa Celal Bayar University in 2013 and completed her master's degree in 2019 at Ege University, Social Sciences Institute, Department of Women’s Studies. Based on her field research conducted in Izmir, her thesis addressed the topic of "Lifelong Women's Labor: The Care Role of Grandmothers in Social Reproduction."
Her passion for music led her to the multicultural musical traditions of Anatolia and the Mediterranean. Tracing old songs and uncovering their stories became a passion for her. Singing in Turkish, Greek, Ladino, and Arabic, she views multilingual music as one of the most beautiful ways to shed light on an alternative history and to feel the brotherhood of peoples.
She is one of the founders and vocalists of the Izmir-based bands "Agora Minör" and "Salut de Smyrne" as well as "Bahara", a group that brings together Alexandria and Izmir. Additionally, under the roof of Meydan Müzik Yapım, she composes songs in a traditional music style.
She is also involved in domestic and international music projects as an independent musician. She organizes Greek Song Singing Workshops both online and in person and teaches how to play baglamadaki instrument.
Berat Hasırcı - Guitar
He completed his master's degree in the field of popular culture and music at Dokuz Eylul University, Institute of Fine Arts, Department of Music Sciences, Ethnomusicology, graduating as the top of his class.
Since 2005, he has had the opportunity to work in various areas related to music and sound arts by participating in numerous music projects and bands. He worked for many years with the music group Ayrık Otu, which charts its path by drawing from various musical cultures of the world, and took on the arrangement of many of the band’s original compositions.
With Salut de Smyrne, a music group that aims to establish a cultural bridge by compiling a repertoire from the Mediterranean region, he has participated in research and performance projects focused on Sephardic and Mediterranean music.
Together with his band, he won first place in Turkey in the national songwriting competition organized by Kınay Production. He also composed the soundtrack for the documentary film İstiklal, which focuses on the province and districts of Bilecik.
Continuing his work within YES Recording Production, Hasırcı creates music for commercials, short films, and documentaries, as well as sound designs. As both a musician and ethnomusicologist, he actively contributes to academic studies presented at symposiums, congresses, and conferences.
Murat Küçükarslan
After completing his master's degree in Ethnomusicology at Hacettepe University, he focused on the music cultures of the peoples who have lived and are still living in Anatolia through the music groups he helped establish. He participated in research and performance practices of Rebetiko with the Agora Minör music group, and Sephardic and Mediterranean music with Salut de Smyrne.
As the coordinator of the project "The Music Masters of Izmir", supported by the Izmir Development Agency, he documented the musical performance styles of people living in Izmir and surrounding villages who learned music through the master-apprentice relationship.
In 2020, Murat Küçükarslan founded Meydan Music Production and continues music production activities, along with serving as the music consultant for the Doğa Association. Focusing on traditional Anatolian instruments, he composed the music for the documentaries and video music productions produced by the Doğa Association. He has completed music production for documentaries about Olive Forests, Gediz Delta of Izmir, Oak Forests of Anatolia, Kelaynak, Flamingo, and Little Vulture birds.
Murat continues his music work with the music groups Agora Minör, Salut de Smyrne, and Bahara, while also continuing his composition and music production under Meydan Music.