| Brenna MacCrimmon | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Brenna MacCrimmon |
| Origin | Toronto, Canada |
| Genres | TFolk |
| Occupations | performer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Website | greengoatmusic.ca |
Brenna MacCrimmon is a Canadian folk singer from Toronto, Ontario, who has been performing, studying and teaching Balkan and Turkish music since the 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 incident: "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 interested in the Turkish branch of Balkan songs known as Rumeli folksongs. She studied Turkish musical theory and combed archives and recordings to uncover nearly forgotten gems. She has visited Greece and Turkey several times, and has also 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 Turkish culture, and sang regional folk music at festivals and special events.
Her first album, Karşılama (also published as Karshlama), is with Selim Sesler and a Thracian Roman ensemble. The album 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 and Mad Professor. Her second album, Ajde Mori, released in 2001, features Turkish, Macedonian, and Bulgarian material; her third, Kulak Misafiri, released in 2009, contains mostly Turkish material. Besides, she has also sung one Azerbaijani folklor song - 'Getme, Getme, Gel'(Do not go, do not go, Come back, please).
She formed Orkestar Keyif with Beth Cohen, Paul Brown, Polly Ferber and Haig Manoukian.
She is featured in the 2005 documentary film Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul, directed by Fatih Akın.