Composer, pianist and sound artist Kaan Bulak was born in Aachen in 1991 and spent his childhood in Istanbul, where he learnt the piano at the age of 5. During his school years in Stuttgart, he was a piano student of Andrej Jussow. After a few excursions into maths and economics in Cologne, Bulak found his way to sound production and composition. He first studied at the SAE-Institute in Berlin and then at the Berlin University of the Arts. He received inspiration from his mentors Jean-Boris Szymczak at Funkhaus Berlin for sound production and Martin Supper for electroacoustic composition.
Between 2018 and 2020, Bulak was one of the fellows of the Beethoven anniversary #bebeethoven. During this time, he researched sound concepts for the expansion of acoustic instruments, developed the 360° loudspeaker »Lynch« together with Martion Audiosysteme and recorded numerous works and experiments as an artist-in-residence at the ZKM Karlsruhe. As an artist-in-residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris from 2023–2024, he worked on various works and his first opera.
Istanbul and Berlin are the cities that have influenced him the most and inspired his own form of composition far removed from geographical and cultural borders. In a similar way, the boundaries between acoustic and electronic instruments are blurred. This can be experienced most clearly at concerts by his own ensemble. Strings, piano and electronics merge with the help of specially developed loudspeakers and unusual techniques to activate the subconscious.
Bulak’s music and improvisations have been performed on stages such as the Zurich Opera House, Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Verbier Festival, LSO St. Luke’s London and Şerefiye Sarnıcı Istanbul. On stage and in the studio, Bulak has collaborated with artists from a very broad spectrum such as Sarah Aristidou, Robert Lippok, Cosmin TRG, Anastasia Kobekina, Luise Enzian, Taner Akyol Trio, and many more. Bulak’s first cello sonata found its way to music academies and is selected internationally as an examination piece.
Bulak lives in Berlin and runs the audiovisual art label Feral Note, which he founded, with its own recording studio and music salon. He passes on his sound production experience to students in regular workshops at NYU Berlin (Clive Davis Institute).