Erdem Helvacıoğlu is a renowned composer, sound designer, music producer, sound engineer, guitarist and educator currently residing in New York.
His music has been broadcast on international radio stations such as BBC, ABC, WDR, SWR, HDR2, WNYC, SR P2 and Radio France, among others. His compositions have been included in festivals in USA, Europe, Argentina, New Zealand, Canada, Korea and many other countries.
For his electroacoustic music works, Helvacıoğlu has received awards from the Luigi Russolo, MUSICA NOVA and Insulae Electronicae Electroacoustic Music competitions.
He has scored over 20 feature documentaries, narrative and short films. His film music has been heard at international film festivals such as Rotterdam, Locarno, Istanbul, Berlin, Cannes. The films that he scored has been nominated for various prestigious awards, such as Palme d`Or in 2006 Cannes Film Festival for the short film Boreas directed by Belma Bas. His filmscore to Seaburners (directed by Melisa Önel), which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2014, was referred to by the Hollywood Reporter as an “outstanding soundwork”.
As a music producer, mixing/mastering engineer he has worked with Gorillaz, INNA, AronChupa, Sofi Tukker, Fatboy Slim, Pamela Z, Nina Persson, Kinan Azmeh, and Monty Adkins among others. His solo and duo albums with Per Boysen, Ros Bandt, Şirin Pancaroğlu, Bill Walker, Ulrich Mertin, Bruce Tovsky, Stuart Gerber have been included in the “best albums of the year” lists by magazines such as All About Jazz, Textura, Cyclic Defrost, Blogcritics, Guitar Player, Audio Video, Culture Catch, Exclaim! and Perfect Sound Forever.
His compositional output has been discussed in long articles on prestigious magazines such as Musicworks, Signal to Noise, Electronic Musician, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik and Guitar Player.
Helvacıoğlu’s music has been referred to as “well crafted and vivid” (The Wire), “groundbreaking” (All About Jazz), “challenging yet always beautiful” (Exclaim!), “emotionally evocative soundscapes with remarkable beauty” (Montreal Mirror), “uncommonly deep, intelligent, and beautiful” (Guitar Player), “luscious and unique” (Alternate Music Press), “completely arresting and disarmingly beautiful” (Luna Kafe), “stimulating and provocative” (Blogcritics), “outstanding” (ARRAY), and “extraordinarily inventive and fascinating” (Fanfare).
Helvacıoğlu currently teaches music technology at Ramapo College of New Jersey, lives and works in Brooklyn and Istanbul.