Born in Ankara, Turkey in 1970, Sila Cevikce got a chance to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a jazz musician when she relocated to Boston to study at the esteemed Berklee College of Music, in 1993.
There she quickly discovered her interest in writing music as an integral part of performing and completed her studies Summa Cum Laude in Jazz Composition in 1996, the same year she received Claire Fisher Award for excellence as a pianist, composer and arranger. She then received M.M. degree in jazz performance from University of South Florida in 1998, again Summa Cum Laude, where she was also a Teaching Assistant.
She has studied piano and improvisation with Robert Helps, Joanne Brackeen, Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Crook. She has studied composition with Chuck Owen, Ken Pullig, Greg Hopkins and Ted Pease as well as others.
Ever since her student years in Boston, Cevikce performed
and written many different styles of music although her focus has been on
improvised music. In the past she has written for and performed and recorded
with Greenwich Blue (which was featured on National Public Radio's
"JazzSouth" program series), Dan MacMillion Groovin
High Big Band ,Mars Allstars Big Band ,George Caroll and many others.
From 1996 to 1998 she was a member of USF Jazztet , which performed at Umbria
Jazz Festival and toured South Africa as well as performing with guests such
as Tim Hagans, Billy Drummond, Ira Coleman, Pacquito d'Rivera, Kim Richmond
and Clay Jenkins .
She is currently performing and writing music for
New York bands Kim Bock Quartet, Spindle, and her own trio. She is
also the Musical Director, composer and arranger for folk-jazz singer Robin
Hackett . Her discography includes Greenwich Blue's 1997 CD "When
Our Time Comes" ,"USF Suncoast'97" , Dan McMillian's
1997 album "Fireshaker" and Kim Bock Quartet's 2002 release
"The Tunnel" , which features seven of her original compositions.
She completed a highly praised promotional tour of this album in Denmark in
December 2002.
Since April 2003, as a result of her growing interest in modern classical music in combination with its visual applications, she has been writing music for theater and film as well. Cevikce was a participant at the prestigious ASCAP-NYU Buddy Baker Film Scoring Workshop in May 2003 after which she has worked with the experimental theater company NaCl as a Music Consultant.
During Fall of 2003, she composed and recorded the original score for Catskill Chainsaw Redemption, a film by Matt Unger and J.R. Havlan. This film has been screened in NYC as a part of "These Just In-Short Films from the writers of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart" during Spring 2004 as well as Seattle and Newport Film Festivals. She also composed the music for Speaking Past Each Other, a short art film by Brian Felsen.
She is currently working on a song cycle for acclaimed soprano Elif Savas which partially premiered in April 2004 as a part of a Composers Syndicate concert of which she is a member of. In addition, she has just finished recording her first jazz CD with her own quartet which features world renowned musicians Rich Perry on sax and Ari Hoenig on drums. She also performs regularly with this quartet in various NY venues such as Cornelia Street Cafe.
For booking or any other inquiries please contact info@sila-music.com
