Draft:Inal Bilsel

• Comment: Still multiple unsourced statements in the draft. Also 5 sections without wikilinks is something that should be adressed. Nobody (talk) 06:04, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

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Inal Bilsel

Inal Bilsel
Inal Bilsel performing in Cyprus
Background information
Birth name	Inal Bilsel
Born	(1983-10-06) October 6, 1983 Nicosia, Cyprus
Genres	Instrumental, Soundtrack, Jazz Fusion, Ambient
Occupation(s)	Composer, Musician, Producer, Sound Designer, Academic
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Sony Music Turkey
Website	www.inalbilsel.com

Inal Bilsel (born October 6, 1983) is a Cypriot composer and music producer recognized for his diverse musical styles, which encompass orchestral, electronic, and ambient music. His work spans various genres, including soundtrack, jazz fusion, and experimental music. Bilsel’s compositions have been performed by ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, and he has released multiple works through the Epic Istanbul label, a division of Sony Music Turkey. He is the founding director of Sound Arts and Design department at ARUCAD, a boutique arts university located in Kyrenia. Bilsel’s compositions draw from a broad range of influences, blending electronic and acoustic sounds to create atmospheric and narrative-driven pieces. His works have been featured in films, multimedia installations, and live performances.

Early Life and Education

Bilsel was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, and raised in a musically inclined family. His mother played the guitar and sang, while his father was an avid listener of classical music, providing a diverse musical environment. From 2000 to 2005, he studied Music Composition at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, where he worked with lecturers from countries including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. His instructors included Jean-Michel Boulay, Goce Kolarovsi, David Hanner and Miroslav Spasov, and his influences included composers such as Bohuslav Martinů, Béla Bartók, and Igor Stravinsky. His undergraduate portfolio featured chamber works and a Concerto for Piano and Strings.

In 2005, Bilsel enrolled in a Master’s program in composition at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he studied with Philip Cashian, Tansy Davies, and Brian Lock. His final project, Nilay’s Dream, won the 2007 Notion Composition Competition, resulting in a performance and recording by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.

After completing his Master’s degree, Bilsel shifted his focus toward computer-aided music production and released his debut album, A New Beginning, in 2009. The self-released album combined elements of ambient soundscapes, jazz fusion, and electronic music.

In 2011, Bilsel returned to Cyprus and accepted a teaching position at the Eastern Mediterranean University. Concurrently, he pursued a second Master’s degree in Visual Arts and Communication Design. During this time, his work increasingly explored the intersection between music and narrative storytelling. Notably, his three-hour audiovisual performance Tales From The Future was set in a dystopian future and integrated narrative elements, historical references, and mid-20th-century media into an immersive soundscape. Alongside his teaching role, he continued to explore the intersection of music and narrative storytelling. His work in Cyprus has been well-received, with local media recognizing his approach to composition and sound design.

Bilsel later returned to Royal Holloway to pursue a PhD in Music Composition. His research investigated the use of music to evoke nostalgia and memory, with a particular focus on fictional worlds. This research has significantly influenced his compositional style, leading him to incorporate themes of hauntology and nostalgia in his work.

Career

Inal Bilsel's compositions often venture into dystopian themes, reflecting his fascination with speculative futures. One of his signature works revolves around the concept of SimTapes—a fictional technology designed to offer intense emotional experiences to users, allowing them to escape their grim reality through simulated sensations. This imaginative world stems from a future where nuclear warfare has devastated Earth, and attempts to colonize in space have failed. Within this context, Bilsel developed the SimEx (Simulated Experience) company, where humans are offered the chance to relive chosen emotions and memories. His work on the installation Tape Den revisits this dystopian narrative, presenting it as a fictional museum exhibit of different kinds of SimTapes, blending fact and fiction in a quasi-museological setting. This work is interpreted as a -interpretation of the 19th-century opium dens, highlighting Bilsel's use of speculative fiction to comment on human alienation and artificial emotional experiences.

Bilsel's work often explores the creation of intricate, immersive worlds within his compositions. In an interview, he elaborated on how each of his projects forms its own "small world," reflecting a deeply personal yet universal journey through soundscapes and narrative structures. This approach is evident in his various works where music serves as a vessel for emotional storytelling.

Albums

Inal Bilsel's debut album, A New Beginning, was initially self-released in 2009 and later re-released by Sony Music Turkey in 2019. The album marked a significant shift in Bilsel’s musical direction, as he began to explore ambient soundscapes, electronic textures, and psychedelic rock influences. A New Beginning represents a fusion of traditional and modern elements, reflecting Bilsel's evolving approach to composition.

His 2017 album Paradise Lost, released by Epic Istanbul, received attention for its thematic exploration of dystopian worlds. The album was noted for its complex soundscapes and thematic depth. Bilsel collaborated with various musicians for the album and recorded live string performances in Istanbul. Paradise Lost has been interpreted in terms of its philosophical exploration of the concept of utopia and dystopia.Bilsel's work reflects a deep concern with the human condition, focusing on the contrasts between the idealized and the harsh realities of modern existence. The album explores the concept of both childhood and Cyprus as lost paradises, using music to probe existential themes of memory, longing, and the disillusionment that comes with the collapse of utopian dreams. Bilsel invites the listener to reflect on the transient nature of happiness and the human tendency to seek perfection in a flawed world, offering a sonic landscape that mirrors this conflict.

Performances and festival appearances

Inal Bilsel's live performances feature two distinct projects. One of his key projects is Tales From The Future, an immersive audiovisual experience entirely composed of original music. This project blends futuristic soundscapes with visual elements. Bilsel has showcased this project at various prestigious festivals and venues, including Sonar Istanbul, which is renowned for its cutting-edge electronic music and multimedia experiences. In Cyprus, "Tales From The Future" was featured at the Farma Project, Buffer Fringe Festival, Urban Gorillas, Electric Cicadas, and Maki Fest, among others.

In addition to his solo project, Bilsel leads a band-centric performance called "Nostalgia For The Future," where he is joined by vocalists Ezgi Akgürgen and Naz Atun, drummer Uğur Güçlü, and bassist Onur Kasapoğlu. This project adds a more traditional band structure to Bilsel's music while retaining his signature blend of synth-heavy, futuristic soundscapes. The group has performed at high-profile festivals in Cyprus, including Fengaros Festival (where they performed twice), Afro Banana Festival, and Buffer Fringe Festival.

Music for film and stage

Inal Bilsel has made notable contributions to Cypriot short films with his music. He composed the score for Bir Annenin Sonatı (2020), a short film directed by Fehmi Öztürk, which explores themes of familial relationships and dystopian futures. The film was showcased at the tr:Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festivali, one of Turkey's most prestigious film events. Other works include Free Fun (2020), also directed by Öztürk and The Hunt (2019) by Sholeh Zahrei and Kamil Saldun. Bilsel has also worked on The Delivery (2020) and Random Attempts (2016), two short films directed by Doğuş Özokutan that have been featured in international film festivals, including the Cannes Short Film Corner. His score for Letters to Cyprus (2014), directed by Sholeh Zahrei and Kamil Saldun, reflects his engagement with Cypriot themes and cultural history, which often appear in his work.

More recently, Inal Bilsel participated in the Eklektik Manifest festival, exploration themes such as identity, memory, and cultural displacement. The exhibition invited Cypriot artists from the diaspora, those who have lived abroad but maintain ties to Cyprus, to contribute to a dialogue on these topics. For the festival, Bilsel collaborated with director Handan Ergiydiren and actress Güneş Kozal in a narrative performance derived from the works of the Turkish avant-garde writer Sevim Burak. This interdisciplinary project explores the boundaries between music, text, and performance, aiming to interpret Burak's fragmented literary style through soundscapes and multimedia elements. The performance marks a new chapter in Bilsel's artistic journey, combining his interest in experimental music with narrative and performance art.

In addition to his film work, Bilsel's music was featured in the video game Q.U.B.E. and on the theatrical production Hüzün, Ana ve Çocukları, which explores themes of resilience against the backdrop of the Cyprus conflict.

Exhibitions and other artistic works

In addition to his work in music composition and production, Inal Bilsel has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions. One of his more recent contributions was in Meaningful Coincidences (2023), a posthumous exhibition honoring Cypriot painter Ayhan Menteş, for which Bilsel composed Three Sketches in Aquamarine. In 2021, he collaborated with Aycan Garip to create original music for Mete Hatay's solo exhibition Palimpsest, performing live during the exhibition's opening night.

In 2019, he contributed to the Cyprus - Wonder Island collection as part of the Imago Mundi project, an initiative by the Benetton Group that brings together artists from around the world to create a global art collection. Bilsel’s work was displayed alongside many other Cypriot artists, highlighting the cultural and artistic diversity of Cyprus within the context of this global project, which aims to foster artistic dialogue across geographical boundaries.

Bilsel also contributed to the group exhibition Altın Üstün (2019), producing new music and performing live. That same year, he participated in Kesin Birşey Yok, with a video installation titled Domestication of the Human Species. Bilsel’s 2017 work Tape Den was part of Planites, a group exhibition in Paphos during its year as European Capital of Culture. This video and music installation paralleled his album Paradise Lost and explored similar themes related to SimTapes. Earlier group exhibitions include SKT (2016), Etkenlik (2015), He/She/It (2014), and Happening (2013), with the latter marking a turning point in Bilsel's career, fostering long-term artistic collaborations.

Research and Artistic Approach

Bilsel’s academic research, especially during his PhD studies at Royal Holloway, has centered on nostalgia and hauntology, exploring how music can evoke memory and emotional depth. His thesis, Creating Small Worlds: Approaches to a Nostalgia-Driven Concept Album, focused on the role of music in creating immersive environments. His work frequently involves field recordings, found sounds, and experimental musical forms.

Bilsel’s work frequently seeks to preserve and reinterpret Famagusta’s past for future generations, utilizing both digital and artistic mediums, thereby reinforcing his engagement with the region’s historical narrative. In addition to his academic exploration of nostalgia and memory, Bilsel has actively contributed to various cultural events and festivals centered on these themes. One such event was the Famagusta Museum Festival, where his work examined the intersection of personal and collective memory in the context of the region’s complex history.

In interviews, Bilsel has articulated his view that music acts as a crucial stabilizing force which underscores the role of music in maintaining balance and insight in a world that can often feel disordered and overwhelming.

Throughout his career, Bilsel has drawn inspiration from a variety of influential artists and genres. In an interview, Bilsel discussed how legendary composer Vangelis has played a significant role in shaping his approach to music composition, especially with his work on immersive and cinematic soundscapes, which has inspired him to design unique compositions for events such as the Feggaro Festival.

Personal Life

Inal Bilsel continues to reside in Cyprus, where he remains active in both teaching and composing. His work is deeply influenced by his experiences growing up near the Varosha border in Famagusta, a site of significant historical and emotional weight due to the unresolved Cyprus conflict. The deserted town, once a thriving center, now serves as a poignant reminder of the divisions on the island. In an interview, Bilsel discussed how the haunting presence of Varosha and the ongoing conflict deeply shape his artistic vision, where themes of memory, loss, and identity are recurrent.

Discography

• A New Beginning (2009)
• Paradise Lost (2018)
• Transmissions (2020)

External Links

Official website Inal Bilsel on IMDb Inal Bilsel at Royal Holloway