‘Soolmaan’

The Soolmaan ensemble emerged from the eclectic musical identity of the lute player and composer Tristan Driessens. By merging Eastern and Western classical traditions with those of contemporary modal music, Soolmaan creates a varied sound with improvisation as its driving force.
Driessens mainly spent the first ten years of his career exploring classical Ottoman music. In 2011, he founded the renowned Lâmekân Ensemble, which recorded four albums and performed in Europe, Turkey and Central Asia. After training as an oud player in Istanbul, Driessens returned home to found Soolmaan in 2016, a multifaceted ensemble for which he writes inventive, delicate and timeless compositions.