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Yinon Muallem (Turkey/Israel)

Originally from Israel, Yinon lives and composes in Istanbul, where also his group comes from.

He collaborates with Turkish dancer and choreographer Berrak Yedek.
Yinon was born in Israel in 1968 to a family of Iraqi origin. At an early age he was drawn to Middle Eastern music, going back to the roots of his Iraqi born parents. He started playing Middle Eastern percussion instruments such as darbuka, def, bendir, Iranian zarb, kanjira and oud. Yinon has collaborated with Ross Daly (Greece), vocalist Alim Gasimov and composer Piris Eliyahu (Azerbaijan), Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra (Turkey), the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra, Yair Dalal, Eyal Sela and Ensemble Darma (Israel), Sam Rozbahan (Iran), Sheldon Sands (USA), Tsippi Fleicher (classical composer, Israel) and many others worldwide. For several years, Yinon has been living in Istanbul and playing as a member of the Istanbul Sazandeleri Group, a classical instrumental Turkish group which was founded in 1999. The members of the group are Goksel Baktagir (kanun, musical arranger), Yurdal Tokcan (oud), Selim Guler (kemence) Emrullah Senguller (cello) & Halil Necipooglu (vocals). The group is considered Turkey’s representative musical ensemble, and has accompanied the Turkish prime minister and other dignitaries in formal visits abroad. In 2001, Yinon initiated a project called "Cafe Istanbul" in Israel - Goksel Baktagir and Yurdal Tokcan joined by Eyal Sela and Yankale Segal, performed in the "One World" Festival and played four successful concerts in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Haifa. In 2003, his first album “Changing Moments” was released on the Turkish label Beyza Records. In May 2004, Yinon established a new Turkish-Israeli group, Ensemble Istanbul, which plays mainly the works he composes. The ensemble includes renowned oud player Mehmet Emin Bitmez, Hasan Nar – violin, Turgut Ozufler – kanun, Yaakov Segal – bass, and singer-cantor Mordehai Guri. The group was invited to perform in Israel festival and received enthusiastic critics and audience reactions. In addition to performing, recording and composing, Yinon conducts percussion workshops. Yinon's instructional video "Arabic Percussion" is sold worldwide and is included in some of the world's leading music catalogs.
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