Song for Terra Mater

Artist Residency | Gökova Bay to Cape Gelidonya

Volkan Hursever’s artist residency in Gökova Bay and the Eastern Mediterranean.

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About the Artist

Volkan Hursever

Volkan Hursever is one of Türkiye’s most accomplished jazz double bassists, known for his performances at national and international festivals. He trained at the Istanbul State Conservatory at Mimar Sinan University and holds a Master’s degree from the Turkish Music Conservatory at Halic University. Alongside a teaching career in contrabass and jazz ensemble, he performs with the ensemble Incesaz and has collaborated with musicians such as Roy Haynes, Kenny Garrett, David Kikoski and Nicholas Payton.

Hursever has a long-standing connection to Gökova Bay. He fell in love with its coastlines and wildlife years ago, witnessing the impacts of overfishing and, more recently, the recovery that restoration is helping to drive.

About the Residency

Gökova Bay and the wider Eastern Mediterranean are shaped by steep headlands, quiet coves and waters rich in biodiversity. These seascapes support fishers, coastal villages and marine wildlife, yet they also face pressures from climate change, pollution and invasive species. Akdeniz Koruma Derneği and partners are working to protect and restore these waters through community-led marine reserves, improved fisheries management and habitat conservation.

For his residency, Hursever travelled through Gökova Bay and the surrounding coastline, walking, swimming and diving with Akdeniz Koruma Derneği’s conservation team. To immerse himself in daily life, he stayed in the village of Kemikler, where he experienced the seasonal rhythms of the coast and heard first-hand accounts of how the local climate is changing.

Living with the seascape

Hursever’s time in Kemikler shaped his understanding of how climate impacts are felt at the household level. Over the course of a year, he saw how hotter weather affected crops, including olive trees, and how changes in the sea influenced local livelihoods. Conversations with villagers offered insight into the challenges coastal communities face, as well as the signs of recovery emerging from protected areas in the bay.

Daily walks and long periods in the water became a way of paying attention to the seascape’s textures and sounds. These experiences formed the basis for new musical ideas, shaped not only by the coastline itself but by the people who live alongside it.

“I was deeply affected by the countless nature walks, silence and witnessing the natural life. It allowed me to reflect on our mission in the world and my life, and make new plans for the future.”

Composing Song for Terra Mater

Throughout the residency, Hursever gathered natural sounds from the Eastern Mediterranean and wove them into a new musical composition, Song for Terra Mater. Inspired by the wildlife of the Aegean and the quiet shifts he observed along the coast, the piece blends instrumental motifs with recorded elements from the sea.

The double bass carries the voice of whale song, while layered tones and near-spectral sounds evoke the themes of loss, renewal and resilience. For Hursever, the work is a personal response to the environmental changes he has witnessed over many years and an effort to contribute something meaningful to the recovery of the region’s marine ecosystems.