Eren Akşahin (b. 1992 in Bielefeld) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and music educator. His artistic language is deeply rooted in the diverse musical traditions of Anatolia, drawing particularly on Kurdish, Alevi, Armenian and Turkish musical cultures. At the same time, his work engages with contemporary music, Western classical music, jazz, improvisation and experimental approaches. At the centre of his artistic practice is the bağlama, alongside the oud, guitar and other plucked instruments, which he brings into a wide range of musical contexts.

From 2011 to 2017, Eren studied World Music at Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam, with a focus on Anatolian and Middle Eastern music. He first completed his Bachelor of Music and subsequently an interdisciplinary Master of Music / World Music. During his studies, he explored extended techniques, timbre and contemporary approaches to the bağlama, as well as its integration into chamber music and other contemporary settings. His Master’s research focused on the sonic integration of the bağlama into a chamber music context. During his education, he also attended lessons, masterclasses and workshops with renowned musicians and educators including Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Kudsi Ergüner, Kemal Dinç and Paco Peña.

Throughout his musical career, Eren has collaborated with numerous prominent artists from the Anatolian, Kurdish and international music scenes, including Carlo Domeniconi, Kemal Dinç, Ahmet Aslan, Ali Tekbaş, Dodan Özer, Ertan Tekin and Sakina Teyna, among many others. Early in his career, he was a member of the Kemal Dinç Trio. As a bağlama player, he also performed with the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Augsburg Peace Festival.

Alongside his work as an instrumentalist, Eren has increasingly developed his own compositional and curatorial formats. Since 2022, his concert series Cemal Cemale has provided a platform for contemporary Anatolian music, improvisation and artistic exchange between musicians from diverse musical and cultural backgrounds. In 2026, Cemal Cemale #6 was presented at the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle in Bielefeld and recorded by WDR 3, with its broadcast scheduled for December 2026.

In 2023, Eren performed as an oud player in Wim Henderickx’s contemporary opera The Convert with the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra. He also served as musical director for the theatre production Die Optimistinnen, first at Theater Bielefeld and again in 2026 at the Altes Schauspielhaus Stuttgart.

His artistic work has repeatedly been supported through scholarships, residencies and project funding. In 2022, he was selected for a residency with the Goethe-Institut Brussels, participating in the international HALAQAT programme. In 2023, he was invited to a further residency with the Goethe-Institut Rabat in Morocco. These residencies resulted, among other activities, in performances at BOZAR in Brussels and at Visa for Music in Morocco. Eren has also received scholarships and project funding from institutions including the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL), GVL, the German Music Council, the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Cultural Office of the City of Bielefeld.

As a recipient of an LWL cultural scholarship, Eren worked on The Conference of the Birds, developing his own musical response to the work of the Persian mystic and poet Fariduddin Attar. The composition brings together a contemporary musical language with modal structures and a wide range of ethnically rooted musical influences. The project reflects a central aspect of his artistic practice: rather than merely reproducing inherited musical traditions, he seeks to reinterpret and develop them within a contemporary context.

Alongside his artistic work, Eren Akşahin is active as a music educator and lecturer. He has served as a guest lecturer at the University of Hildesheim and has taught for institutions including the Landesmusikrat NRW, the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and others. His teaching and ensemble work focuses particularly on the bağlama, contemporary ensemble practice, cultural diversity and the development of Anatolian musical traditions within present-day artistic and social contexts.

In addition to his own ensembles and projects, Eren regularly performs with a wide range of artists and bands. As a result, he has appeared on both intimate and major stages throughout Europe and has performed in more than 500 concerts and live performances to date.