Istanbul Bilgi University Music Department faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oğuz Usman has made a new work in the techno genre with the album “Unknown Territory.” The album, which brings together elements from various music genres, ranging from bass music to trance music, electroacoustic to minimalist music, has been released on digital platforms under the BILGI Music Label.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oğuz Usman’s album “Unknown Territory” from Istanbul Bilgi University Music Department has met with music enthusiasts under the BILGI Music Label. Prepared in an experimental techno style, the album combines elements from various music genres such as bass music, trance, electroacoustic, minimalist, traditional African music, and synthwave. Each track in the album creates a sense of unfamiliarity, placing the listener into a different “unknown territory.”

The album, titled “Unknown Territory,” is composed and produced by Oğuz Usman and consists of tracks named “Unknown Territory,” “Intimacy,” “Oddity,” “Enervating Happiness,” “Acidity,” “Syndrome,” “Question,” “Critical,” and “Obscurity.”

To listen to the album, click here.

Who is Oğuz Usman?

Music producer, composer, and academic Oğuz Usman studied composition with Michael Jarrell, harmony and counterpoint with Dietmar Schermann, music analysis with Marie-Agnes Dittrich, conducting with Peter Burwik, and orchestration with Ertuğrul Sevsay at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. During his studies, he participated in various courses and workshops given by internationally renowned composers such as Brian Ferneyhough, Wolfgang Rihm, Matthias Pintscher, Hans Zender, Marco Stroppa, Klaus Lang, and Vykintas Baltakas. In 2013, he moved to Istanbul and began his doctoral studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, completing his studies in 2016 with a Doctor of Arts degree under the guidance of Hasan Uçarsu.

His works have been performed by leading conductors and ensembles in Europe and Asia, including Erik Nielsen, Peter Keusching, Simeon Pironkoff, Peter Burwik, Ensemble Kontrapunkte, Ensemble XX. Jahrhundert, PHACE Contemporary Music, Ensemble Reconsil, Ensemble Platypus, Phidias Trio Tokio, Hezarfen Ensemble, and İzmir State Symphony Orchestra. Oğuz Usman has been a guest at international festivals such as Wien Modern, Heidelberger Frühling, GuitarPlus Microtonal Würzburg, and İzmir International Music Festival. He has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Austrian Ministry of Culture in 2007, the Encouragement Award from the City of Vienna in 2009, and the Austrian State Scholarship in 2010.

In addition to his active artistic work, Oğuz Usman conducts theoretical research in a wide range of music, from Renaissance music to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He currently serves as Assoc. Prof. Dr. in the Music Department at Istanbul Bilgi University.