Early Ottoman music · Istanbul

Ensemble Rûm

01 / About

The Sounds of World of Rûm.

Ensemble Rûm is an Istanbul-based early Ottoman music ensemble founded in 2023 and directed by music historian and musician Dr Hasan Baran Fırat. Working from primary sources—including Ali Ufkî, Dimitrie Cantemir, Nâyî Mustafa Kevserî and Nâyî Osman Dede—the ensemble performs on reconstructed and historically configured period instruments. Its Ottoman-Turkish-centred programmes also engage, where historically relevant, with Greek, Italian, Arabic, Persian, Kurdish and Armenian repertories from the wider lands of Rûm. Through narrative, research-led productions, Ensemble Rûm brings a historically grounded Ottoman and eastern Mediterranean voice to international early-music practice, connecting music with social history, cultural exchange and living artistic experience.

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02 / On stage

Past performances

16:00 · Karaköy Palas

Shah, with What Force Did We Come to Baghdad?

Istanbul, Türkiye

20:00 · Karaköy Palas

Shah, with What Force Did We Come to Baghdad?

Istanbul, Türkiye

Earlier · 19 Apr 2025, Cemal Reşit Rey  ·  05 May 2024, Pera Museum

03 / Programmes

History, told in sound.

04 / The ensemble

Musicians, makers,
researchers.

A collective of artists joined by curiosity, close listening, and a commitment to historically grounded performance.

05 / Instruments

Voices of the ensemble.

Playable research hypotheses shaped through sources, making, tuning, rehearsal, and repertory-specific use.

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