Sjahin During

Born to a Dutch father and Turkish mother Sjahin During was raised in Istanbul for the first six years of his life before moving to the Netherlands to the small island of Texel in the North Sea. His meticulous attention to his art and profession runs in the family. His grandfather once led the second violin section at Amsterdam’s world-renowned Concertgebouw Orchestra, while his father is a designer, chair-maker and luthier and mother an accomplished ceramic artist.

Sjahin draws inspiration in equal measure from the metrical science of South Indian music to the rhythms of the Mediterranean basin, Middle and Near East, India, and the masters of jazz. A career spanning more than twenty-five years has led him to many parts of the world.

Studying with masters from Cuba, Turkey, Middle East, India, and Africa he has incorporated elements of what he learned into his own cross-cultural projects that blend idioms from western jazz, classical and improvisational music with traditional Indian, Turkish, Balkan, Afro- Cuban, and the mesmerizing music of the San-Bushmen from the Kalahari Desert. To suit the needs of each of these ensembles he designed his own hybrid percussion set drawing on instruments from various continents.