Gary Berlind came to Istanbul from the USA in February of 2002. He received his Master's Degree in Musicology from New York University in 1966, where he studied traditional musicology with Gustave Reese, Jan LaRue, and H. Wiley Hitchcock, while at the same time working with computer music pioneers Barry Brook and George Logemann.

A double bass student of the New York Philharmonic's Frederick Zimmermann, Mr. Berlind went on to study violoncello with Julian Kahn and viola da gamba with August Wenzinger. He has performed professionally on these instruments with musical organizations including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Krainis Consort, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonia, Kansas City Symphony, Caramoor Festival Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, and the Bennington Composers' Conference.

From 2003 to 2006 Mr. Berlind taught musicology, renaissance/baroque music, and algorithmic (computer) composition at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul. At Yıldız he worked to introduce students to the world of Early Music, and led theYıldız University Early Music Consort in study and performance.

Gary Berlind has been playing the viola da gamba since 1966, and it has since become his instrument of choice. The viola gamba has had a long and illustrious history, and was one of the most popular solo and ensemble instruments throughout all of Europe until it was pushed into almost total obscurity by the violin family of instruments (violin, viola, violoncello) during the mid 18 th century.

With its seven gut strings and wide, fretted neck similar to the lute and guitar, the gamba is particularly well-suited for solo, unaccompanied performance in which the single instrument performs both melody and harmony simultaneously. Mr. Berlind focuses primarily on this brilliant and almost-forgotten unaccompanied viola da gamba repertoire, composed specifically for the instrument by the innovative and widely-traveled gamba virtuousi of those long-ago times.

Together with Istanbul dancer Lerna Babikyan, Gary has formed Baroque In Motion , a unique fusion of authentic Baroque instrumental music and expressive Modern Dance that offers music and dance presentations for private parties, business conferences, and in-school educational programs. As Gamba Sound & Spirit he performs, unaccompanied, for concerts and special events, with colorful and exciting music drawn from the vast repertoire of 17 th and 18 th century compositions written for his remarkable instrument.