Murat Colak

Biography

Murat Çolak is a Turkish-American composer, record producer, mastering and mixing engineer based in Manhattan. His compositions are immersive and luxe, they find their home in the spirituality and poise of Turkish art music and in the hazy, hypnotic coils of dub techno and trance.

Murat has collaborated extensively with some of contemporary music’s most prominent exponents, artists like International Contemporary Ensemble, Wet Ink, Ensemble Dal Niente, Distractfold, Ensemble Vertixe Sonora, Ensemble Surplus, Meitar Ensemble, and Scenatet. His work has been presented and supported by the BBC Radio 3, MATA Festival, New Music USA, the Yaddo Corporation, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Mise-en Festival, ISCM World New Music Days, Frequency Series Festival Chicago, Sonic Matter Festival, Avaloch Farms Music Institute and Festival of New American Music among others.

As an audio engineer and producer, Murat works with an international clientele of virtuoso musicians. He specializes in contemporary classical / electroacoustic music and uses this highly technical skillset to bring a unique and innovative sound to electronic dance music, jazz, and pop. His engineering work can be heard on labels such as KAIROS, Edition Wandelweiser, NEOS, Jazzland, Da Vinci Classics, New Focus, Halocline Trance as well as his own imprint GERYON.

Murat received his DMA in composition from Boston University, and he holds an MA in music composition and technology from Istanbul Technical University’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM). He teaches music technology, production, and composition at Montclair State University and the New York Philharmonic. He has been in residencies, given lectures and masterclasses at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Simon Fraiser University, Pomona College, University of Baltimore, Kent State University, Bilkent University, and others.