Ali Doğan Gönültaş

Ali Doğan Gönültaş sings and plays tembur and acoustic guitar. He was born in Kiğı, Eastern Anatolia, in a family for which, as most of the Alevi ones, music is an essential way of transmitting the history of his people. He spent over ten years conducting field research and developing artistic work to self- produce, in 2022, the magnificent debut album “Kiğı”, in which he advocates for the languages and culture of silenced minorities in Turkey, such as the Kurds and Armenians. Throughout 2023, he performed in more than 30 concerts in Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Belgium, in addition to performances in Turkey, at benchmark venues such as Fundação Gulbenkian (Lisbon), Urkult Festival (Nasaker, Sweden), and Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg). In November 2023, the jurors of the German Record Critics’ Award recognised the production as the Quarterly Critic’s Choice in the Category Traditional Ethnic Music. Before this courageous work, “Kiğı,” in which he advocates for the languages and culture of silenced minorities in Turkey, such as the Kurds and Armenians, Ali Doğan spent ten years collaborating with the fascinating band Ze Tîje, worked in archaeology in Anatolia, composed music for film, and worked in television with a musical theme. In the Spring of 2024 Ali released his second solo album, Keyeyî, that already on the chart of June was positioned as the #2 in the chart.