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American violinist and ethnomusicologist Audrey Wozniak has spent nearly a decade merging Western classical training with Turkish musical traditions, a journey that began with a chance meeting and a move to Türkiye in 2015.
Born in Hawaii and raised largely in Texas, Wozniak began violin lessons at six after watching violinist Itzhak Perlman perform on the children's program "Sesame Street."
She grew up studying Western composers, including Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart, and spent a year of high school studying in Japan, an experience that led her to begin learning Chinese.
Her interest in different musical cultures continued through university, where she encountered Azerbaijani, Uyghur, Chinese and Indonesian traditional music in a music library. During this period, she met Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, who suggested she travel to Istanbul. She arrived in Türkiye in 2015.
In Türkiye, Wozniak first encountered ethnomusicology, the study of societies through music and sound, a field in which she later completed a doctorate at Harvard University. She now divides her time between England, Istanbul and Rize, a Black Sea province in northeastern Türkiye, working on concerts, research and television programs that connect Turkish music with other cultures.
Wozniak said one of the elements that most influenced her in her early years in Türkiye was "mesk," an oral tradition in which musicians drink tea and talk before picking up their instruments to perform together.
She said she did not speak Turkish at the time and initially found the intervals in Turkish microtonal music unfamiliar, though the differences also captured her attention. She noted the violin has featured in Turkish music for more than 250 years but is played in a markedly different style than in Western tradition.
While pursuing a master's degree in communication and politics in London, Wozniak continued returning to Türkiye. After completing her doctorate, she decided to remain in the country in 2024.
She said her background as a violinist draws her to the kemence, a bowed instrument used in Black Sea music, describing its rhythms and techniques as highly advanced.
She also cited Kirsehir and Elazig, cities in central and eastern Türkiye with music histories spanning thousands of years, as regions that have shaped her musically.
Wozniak recalled receiving an invitation to perform from the Zurich Turkish Music Society around the time of the 2023 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras in southeastern Türkiye. Rather than cancel the event, organizers turned it into a solidarity concert, where she performed Turkish folk musician Neset Ertas' composition "Neredesin Sen."
She said she later learned of Ertas's significance, calling him an important musician not only for Türkiye but also internationally, citing the depth of his lyrics and musicianship. She said performing his work creates a shared emotional connection with audiences who sing along.
Wozniak has worked on projects that combine Western and Turkish music, drawing on her training in both traditions. Through "Türkiye'yi Dinliyorum" ("I Am Listening to Türkiye"), a program she produced for the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation's TRT Müzik channel, she visited numerous regions of Türkiye and learned local music styles directly from local musicians.
She said she has since committed to learning Turkish and now studies the language more intensively.
Describing her life across England, Istanbul and Rize, she said Cambridge represents work, Istanbul represents research, and Rize represents ecology and calm, adding that she feels safe and at home in Türkiye.
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