Commissioned Composer ~ Eren Gümrükçüoğlu

​Ex Antiphonis Unitas for alto saxophone and electronics
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Eren Gümrükçüoğlu is a composer and improviser of acoustic/electroacoustic music, a professional guitarist, a music technologist, and an educator. He attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC where he studied jazz guitar. Eren received his Bachelor of Music degree in Film Scoring and Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has shared the stage with musicians such as Dr. Billy Taylor, Aydin Esen, Bob Moses, and Grammy Award winners Shirley Horn, Ruslan Sirota, Ben Williams and many more. In 2004, he moved to Los Angeles and composed, arranged, performed and recorded music for ABC, WB and Lifetime TV networks. After his return in 2007 to Turkey, Eren worked as a studio and concert guitarist while also working as a producer on other artists’ albums. Following a performance of his orchestral arrangements in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in 2008, he decided to return to academia and pursue his lifelong passion of composing music.
 
Eren currently serves as Assistant Professor of Composition at Florida State University. He holds Master’s degrees in composition from Istanbul Technical University and Duke University, and a PhD in composition from Duke University. His research is focused on the dynamics of interaction between electronics and live instruments, generative systems, the utilization of non-western elements in concert music, jazz improvisation, and genre divisions with an emphasis on listening practices. Performers of his music include Quince Ensemble, Semiosis Quartet, Ensemble Suono Giallo, JACK Quartet, New York Polyphony, Mivos Quartet, Conrad Tao, Reuben de Lautour, Ulrich Mertin, Deviant Septet, yMusic Ensemble, Naked Drum Project, UNC Wind Ensemble, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orkest among others.
 
Eren’s music dwells at the intersection of diverse musical styles. As a concert music composer with a strong jazz background, he refrains from creating a crass amalgam of genres but rather incorporates the idiosyncrasies, contours, shapes, rhythms and pacings of different styles into his music. Improvisation maintains its central role in all of Eren’s creative output. His compositions evoke the sense of spontaneity and elasticity that are central to musical development in jazz, while at the same time maintaining a rigorous approach to managing musical form and texture that is typical of much contemporary concert music. As he attempts to upend norms and provide context for diffusion of cultural barriers, Eren combines elements of Turkish folk music with the hallmarks of high-modernist concert music as well as utilizing culturally or politically charged materials to transform their meaning and broaden the scope of discussion that surrounds them.

Ex Antiphonis Unitas explores the relationship between humanity aPermnd the cosmos through the interplay of alto saxophone and electronics. The saxophone embodies the human voice—fragile, lyrical, and searching—while the electronics evoke the overwhelming vastness of space. What begins as contrast and dialogue gradually transforms into belonging, as the human voice is absorbed into the electronic fabric. By the end, saxophone and cosmos converge, speaking together with a unified presence that suggests harmony between the individual and the infinite.
Performer: Geoffrey Deibel

​A Washington, D.C. native, Geoffrey Deibel is a leading, innovative voice for the teaching and performance of the saxophone and contemporary music. He maintains a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, and researcher. New projects for 2024-2025 include commissions from Tyshawn Sorey, Amadeus Regucera, and Ingrid Laubrock, performed by Trio Nebbia and a new ensemble with Duo Cortona. His most recent recordings include Iannis Xenakis’ Dmaathen with percussionist Ji Hye Jung, and his debut solo recording, “Ex Uno Plures.” He has performed with contemporary music ensembles such as the Wet Ink Ensemble (“Missing Scenes” recording now available) and the International Contemporary Ensemble at the Park Avenue Armory (NYC) in the full North American Premiere of Louis Andriessen’s De Materie. He has also given recitals throughout the U.S. and in Europe, and been an invited guest lecturer at several conservatories in Europe and many Universities in the US. He has appeared at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, the International Iannis Xenakis Festival in Athens, Greece, and World Saxophone Congresses in the UK, Europe, and Thailand. 
 
Geoff is a member of the critically acclaimed h2 quartet, first prize winners at the Fischoff Competition and NASA Quartet Competitions, finalists at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and recipients of multiple Aaron Copland Fund Grants. The American Record Guide has hailed h2 as a group of "artistic commitment...boasting superb blend, solid technique, [and] tight rhythm." h2 has seven recordings available, and maintains a non-profit organization to promote the creation of new works for the saxophone quartet. Geoff is also a seasoned orchestral performer, and serves as principal saxophonist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. He previously served in the same capacity with the Wichita Symphony, and has also performed with the New World Symphony and Grant Park Symphony. 
Geoff holds degrees in history and music from Northwestern University, and a doctoral degree from Michigan State University. His principal teachers have included Joseph Lulloff, Frederick Hemke, Leo Saguiguit, and Reginald Jackson. Geoff served on the faculty of Wichita State University, where he was the recipient of the 2015 College of Fine Arts Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity, and the 2016 WSU Faculty Award for Excellence in Creative Activity. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Saxophone at Florida State University, where he was awarded a SEED Grant to fund projects from 2024-2027. He also serves on the faculty of the Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop. Geoff is a Yamaha, Vandoren, and LefreQue performing artist, and performs on Yamaha Saxophones, and Vandoren reeds, ligatures, and mouthpieces exclusively.