Erol Köymen is a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago broadly interested in the politics of music and sound under global populism, with a particular focus on Turkey and its diaspora. His dissertation, tentatively titled, Dubious Distinction: Classical Music, Occidentalist Elites, and the Infrastructure of the Extraordinary in Istanbul, employs extensive ethnographic and historical research on classical music to examine shifting patterns of resonance, intimacy, and belonging in contemporary Istanbul. His publications have appeared in Current Musicology and Musica Judaica, and he has presented at conferences in North America, Continental Europe, the UK, and Turkey. He also has a regular column with the Turkish arts journal Sanattan Yansımalar (Reflections of Art). In addition to a Fulbright DDRA grant and a Fulbright Student Research Grant, his research has been supported by the American Research Institute in Turkey, the Orient Insitut Istanbul, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). As a performer, his background is as a singer and cellist. He appeared in several productions at the Theater an der Wien with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir in Vienna and performed on cello with the UChicago Middle Eastern Music Ensemble and the Bereket Ensemble at the University of Texas at Austin.
Teaching Experience
Introduction to World Music (Spring 2021)
Workshops
Ethnoise