A multi-sensory journey through centuries of music, travel diaries, and immersive technology.

Echoing Travelogues: The Beyond and Us

Dareyn Ensemble & Holland Baroque in Concert

Echoing Travelogues: The Beyond and Us, led by artistic director and lead artist Emine Bostancı, is an immersive performance shaped by a curatorial vision that brings together music, history, and storytelling into a unified dramaturgical journey. Under her leadership, an international ensemble bridges Ottoman, Persian, and European traditions within a single interdisciplinary work.

Featuring Emine Bostancı (Istanbul kemenche), the ensemble includes Zeynep Yıldız Abbasoğlu (kanun), Judith Steenbrink (baroque violin), Tineke Steenbrink (positive organ), and Vinsent Planjer (percussion), with narration by Nora Fischer. Together, they span Ottoman court music, Mevlevi ritual traditions, Persian classical music, and European Baroque repertoire.

The programme invites audiences on a journey across centuries and cultures; from Istanbul to Vienna, and from Persia to Europe. Inspired by the travel diaries of diplomats and explorers (15th–18th centuries), it brings to life the sounds and encounters that shaped cultural exchange across continents.

The work draws on historical travel diaries, including figures such as Levinus Warner, exploring how cultures define themselves through encounters with “the other”. It highlights identity as something shaped through exchange and perception, rather than fixed boundaries.

The performance features music from Ottoman, Persian, and early European traditions, performed on historical instruments. Iconic spaces such as Hagia Sophia, Topkapı Palace, Mevlevi lodges, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral are reimagined through 4D sound design, creating an immersive spatial experience.

The production is supported by an international creative team, including Head of Research Dr. Zeynep Yıldız Abbasoğlu, sound designer Dr. Hasan Baran Fırat, and video designer Ataman Girişken, and is developed in collaboration with Holland Baroque and 4DSound. Produced by Muziekgebouw Productiehuis and Dareyn Foundation, the work combines historical research, spatial audio practices, and contemporary performance technologies to create a richly layered artistic experience.

Organised by Yunus Emre Institute London, the project positions London as a meeting point for historical reflection, artistic dialogue, and intercultural exchange.

More than a concert, Echoing Travelogues: The Beyond and Us is a sensory exploration of memory, identity, and cultural imagination.