Brenna MacCrimmon

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Brenna MacCrimmon in the 2005 movie "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul."

Brenna MacCrimmon is a Canadian folk singer from Toronto, Ontario. She has been performing, studying and teaching Balkan and Turkish music since late 1980s. She speaks and sings perfect Turkish and is internationally acclaimed as a Turkish folk singer.

Her interest in Turkish music started with a trip to a local library in Burlington, Ontario when she was still a teenager. She describes this incidence as; "I came across these Turkish albums, and I was really intrigued, there was just an emotional communication." While taking an ethnomusicology class at University of Toronto in the early 1980s, MacCrimmon sought out local Turkish musicians and was inspired to learn a folk instrument called the baglama. She then began playing and singing in a Turkish community band.

She grew interest in the Turkish branch of Balkan songs, known as Rumeli folksongs. She has been studying Turkish musical theory and combing archives and recordings to uncover near forgotten folksong gems. She visited Greece and Turkey several times and later lived and studied in Istanbul where she did research with people of Rumeli (Balkan-Turkish) descent. During her five-year stay in Istanbul, she immersed herself in the Turkish culture, and sang regional folk music at festivals and special events.

She published the album Karşılama (also published as Karshlama) with Selim Sesler and Thracian Roman ensemble which created a big stir and was nominated for a Juno Award in 1998. She later performed as a guest musician in Psyche-belly Dance Music and Duble Oryantal (Double Oriental) by Baba Zula & Mad Professor. She recently formed Orkestra Keyif with Beth Cohen, Paul Brown and other Turkish music lovers.

She is featured in the 2005 documentary film Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul, directed by Fatih Akın.