Tevfik Akbasli (born 1962) is a Turkish composer. One of the most acknowledged 71 Turkish Composers, Akbasli is the son of businessman Samim Akbasli of Izmir. He spent his childhood and elementary school years in Yesilkoy, Istanbul until his family moved to Izmir. He attended Dokuz Eylul University’s Vocal Studies and Opera Division and studied with names like Sevda Aydan, Suat Taser, Kamran Ince and percussionist Oktay Aykoc while playing drums at various clubs in Istanbul and Izmir. He graduated from Vocal Studies in 1982 as the first chorister to the newly founded Izmir State Opera and Ballet. In 1985, he passed the orchestra exam and crossed over as a percussion artist. However, due to shortage of staff, he served at both the choir and the orchestra for a short period of time. Between 1986 and 1991, he went to the US and studied percussion instruments as well as theory, harmony, composition and improvisation at the Berklee School of Music in vibraphone virtuoso Gary Burton’s Percussion Department with Professor. Ed Saindon and pianist - composer Aydin Esen. He turned to composition in 1990. He succeeded at the position placement exam and made Assistant Principal Timpanist at

Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu (b. 1946 Ilgın, Turkey) is a popular Turkish folk musician (singer and composer), a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades. He is also a prominent left-wing and social-democrat politician and was a member of the Turkish parliament for one term. He is most known for his fusion of Turkish folk music with contemporary music, in much the same way as Bob Dylan and his contemporaries in the United States. His 1997 Ankara concert was attended by no less than 500 thousand people. His collaborations with Mikis Theodorakis of Greece have been noted as a gesture of bringing together the two countries. Livaneli has been a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador since 1996. Livaneli has composed some three hundred songs, a rhapsody –recorded by London Symphony Orchestra–, and a ballet. His compositions have reached cult status nationwide and have been performed by internationally renowned artists such as Joan Baez, María del Mar Bonet, Udo Lindenberg, Maria Farantouri, Haris Alexiou, Jocelyn B. Smith and Kate Westbrook. He has also written five plays and thirty film soundtracks. Among these soundtracks are the soundtrack for "Yol"

Atilla Engin (b.1946 Kayseri Turkey) is a Turkish American fusion jazz musician. From 1974 to 2001 he was active in Denmark as a musician and educator; he organized music festivals and represented Denmark as a musical ambassador. In 2001, he left Denmark for the United States, where he formed an orchestra. Engin first played and recorded in Istanbul, moving to Copenhagen in 1974, and playing with several groups. He released his first album Turkish Delight with the band Matao. They performed at Roskilde Festival in 1979. His other group, "Atilla Engin Group", released five albums. While he was recording and touring with his band, he also taught at the Copenhagen Jazz Conservatory, for four years. Engin formed a band with 12 Copenhagen Jazz Conservatory students and they toured Turkey. This project ended with a joint concert with The Istanbul Radio Big Orchestra at The Ataturk Cultural Center in Istanbul. In 1985 Engin was awarded the title Composer of The Year in Denmark. In the same year, the Atilla Engin Group was appointed as Denmark's cultural ambassador to represent the country in conjunction with the European Music Year 1985. Engin established the World to World Drums And

Ahmet Kutsi Karadoğan (born 16 March 1973, Akçadağ, Malatya) is a composer, pop music singer and song writer often known as Kutsi. His first two names have been given to him from the poet Ahmet Kutsi Tecer. Born in Malatya but he was raised in Ankara, where he started to gain fame too, but the proper fame story begins with him playing Accordion at the Bora Bar in Didim. Kutsi's introduction to music was when he won some money from scrath to win and he bought his first guitar. In 1992, he came to Istanbul with a small album that had all songs written and composed by himself but failed to attract the attention of producers. Determined, Kutsi didn't give up and continued to work with music and he managed to get the attention of the producer Erol Köse and, in a record amount of time 26 days, he managed to create his first album: Aşk Payını Aldı (""Love had its share""). He actually managed to show himself in 2005 with his album Sana Ne (""What's it to you?""). In the period of time, he made some songs for Nalan, Berksan and others. He later made a duet with Petek Dinçöz. During this time, He managed to create and host a show in, one of Turkey's best music channels, Kral TV (""King

Selami Sahin is a composer.

Aylin Aslım (born 14 February 1976 in Lich, Hesse) is a Turkish singer/songwriter. Aylin was born in Lich, Hessen, Germany into a Turkish family but moved back to Turkey when she was only one year old. She sang in several rock and electronica bands in several clubs in Istanbul. Her first album Gelgit -released in 2000 was more of an electronic album. However, she switched back to rock for her later releases, one of which is her second album, "Gülyabani"-released in 2005. Senin Gibi's 2nd version "Aylin Gibi" was included in the 2nd edition of the Gelgit album.

Ugur Dikmen is a composer.

Anjelika Akbar (born 1969 in Karaganda, Kazakhstan) is a Turkish composer and pianist of Uzbek descent. She was born Anjelika Rosenbaum Akbar to a family of a Jewish musician-philosopher father and an musician mother. She could play the piano and read music at the age of 2,5. Akbar began taking private piano lessons when she became 3 years old. Her first master was V.Lipovetsky, one of the founders of Chinese Harbin Conservatory and a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. At the age of 4, she was discovered to possess the Absolute Pitch, and admitted to the school for gifted children (child prodigies) at the age of 4.5, drawing the interest of the Moscow State Conservatory academicians. She continued her education at the Tashkent division of the same school. (Uspkensky State Music School- offering 11 year-education for gifted children). The unique trait of the school for gifted children was that lessons were taught by the most brilliant professors of the conservatory. Like the world-renowned Alexei Sultanov and Stanislav Ioudenitch, Akbar has claimed her place among the best students of the school. She studied her 11-year long piano and composition in the classes of Ass. Prof. V.

Ferdi Tayfur (Born: Ferdi Tayfur Turanbayburt, born November 15, 1945) is a Turkish arabesque singer, actor and composer. In recent years, he has also become popular in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Trinidad and Tobago, Syria and Iran. He achieved estimated sales of over 50-60 million records worldwide. He was born in Hurriyet neighbourhood of Adana, Turkey and he has led a successful career in arabesque music. Being successful in his arabesque career he has been announced as the King of Arabesque, a music type very popular in today's Turkey and the middle east. His father, Cumali, who was a big fan of a famous theater and dubbing actor "Ferdi Tayfur" named his youngest son after him. After his father was killed, he was not able to continue his education because he had to work in the cotton fields of Cukurova to support his family. Ferdi Tayfur went to Istanbul when he was 17 with dreams of becoming a famous singer. He was not able to succeed on doing this and so he returned to Adana after a short stay in Istanbul. He came back to Istanbul in the early 1970s and his constant attempts to become a singer finally started to pay off. He has got over 100 music albums and over 30 films in his

Şebnem Ferah (born April 12, 1972 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish singer and song-writer. She was the lead vocalist of the all-female hard rock band Volvox until 1994, after which she went on to pursue an illustrious solo career. Her music style varies from pop rock to hard rock though her later albums have progressively incorporated more of the hard rock sound. Şebnem Ferah was born on 12 April 1972 in Yalova to ethnic Turkish immigrant parents from Skopje of the Republic of Macedonia. She first took solfeggio and instrument lessons from her father who was also a teacher. She grew up listening to her father's Rumelian folk songs played with bağlama, mandolin and piano. She got her first guitar when she was in the first year in boarding at Namık Sözeri Lisesi of Bursa. She got acoustic lessons. During her second year, she hired a studio with her friends and formed the group Pegasus. The group had their first stage appearance during a rock festival in Bursa, in 1987. After a while, Pegasus disbanded. In 1988 Şebnem formed Volvox with four friends of her that they named after the microorganism known as volvox, which they encountered in a biology lesson. In 1989 she provided the voice

Burak Güven (born October 9, 1975) is a Turkish musician, bass player and one of the backing singers in the rock band Mor ve Ötesi. He was born in İstanbul, Turkey. From 1993 to 2000, Burak studied singing at the State Conservatory of İstanbul. Before he became a member of the group, he sang in the choir and opera. He became one of the first participants of İstanbul Blues Company. When he was 14 years old, Burak bought his first guitar. At 15, he began to play in a group Virus with four friends. In the group he was a vocalist. But he had disagreements with guitarist Erke Erokay and left the group. He then worked with pop performer Eric Coker and sang in cafes and bars for living. In 1993 Burak bought his first bass guitar. He was one of the first participants in İstanbul Blues Kumpanyası. He gave concerts and played bass guitar in four songs in their album Kokler. He also sang in the opera Aşk İksiri and musical Anlat Şehrazat in 1997. He has also participated in the choir Fahir Atakoğlu. His voice can be heard on the CD Senfonik Konser. He participated in the Mimi Festival in France with a group, Nekropsi. He still composes electronic musics with his friend Tolga Enilmez, who is a

Fikret Kızılok (November 10, 1947 – September 22, 2001) was a Turkish musician. He was a pioneer of Turkish rock music and an early experimentalist. Kızılok was introduced to music during his secondary school years at the Galatasaray High School, a top high school in Turkey that produced other music legends Barış Manço and Timur Selçuk, as well. His first instrument was an accordion. Upon graduation, he went on to study dentistry. “Yumma Gözün Kör Gibi ! Yağmur Olsam” (Do not shut your eyes as if you were blind | If I were rain) was his first album release. Among his well-known songs are "Bu Kalp Seni Unutur mu?" (Would this heart forget you?), "Yeter ki" (Just so), "Zaman Zaman" (Time to time), "Gönül" (Heart), "Sevda Çiçeği" (Flower of love), "Gecenin Üçünde" (3 am at night), "Gidiyorsun" (You are going away). He quit music in 1973 following the death of Aşık Veysel, until the release of "Anadolu'yum" (I am Anatolia) in 1975. He suffered a heart attack in 1998, when he also published his farewell album, "Mustafa Kemal- Devrimcinin Güncesi" (Mustafa Kemal - A Revolutionary's Diary). Following a second heart attack in July 2001, he died in September 2001. With Cahit Oben 4 Fikret

Yalın (real name Hüseyin Yalın) is a Turkish pop singer and songwriter. He achieved success with the song "Zalim". Hüseyin Yalın was born on March 30, 1980 in Istanbul, Turkey. Yalın wrote his first songs during his high school years and delved further into music when he got into college to study economics. It was then that he recorded his first demo CD. Yalın’s introduction to music goes back to his childhood when he listened to his father playing Gipsy Kings song to him using his guitar. Since then Yalın’s interest in music grew more and more each day and contributed to him becoming one of the most popular singer-song writers of Turkey. Following 1½ years of hard work, his debut album Ellerine Sağlık, produced by Selim Öztürk, was released. The song "Zalim" became one of the major summer hits of 2004. Unlike most Turkish pop singers, Yalın's personality was very humble and down to Earth. This gained him a lot of respect and recognition. Within the first week, the sales of his album reached 200,000 copies. By the end of the first month sales reached 300,000. The total sales reached 500,000 copies at the end of four months which made Yalın's debut one of highest selling records in

Arghyris Kounadis is a film score composer.

Evrim Demirel (born November 17, 1977 in Izmir) is a Turkish composer and jazz pianist. Evrim Demirel was educated in Izmir High School of Fine Arts and he studied piano with Nergis Sakirzade. Then he enrolled at Bilkent University in Ankara becoming a student in the Theory-Composition Department of the Music and Performing Arts Faculty. He earned his B.A. from this institution studying composition with Elhan Bakihanov, and went to the Netherlands for further music studies in Rotterdam Conservatory. He studied jazz piano under Rob van Kreeveld, electronic music under Rene Uijlenhoet and composition under Klaas de Vries and graduated from the composition and jazz- piano departments in 2005. Afterwards he has studied composition with Theo Loevendie in Amsterdam Conservatory and obtained his master degree in 2007. Demirel is known for his citations of styles and elements which could be called postmodern. "Combining Western and non-Western instruments Demirel explores a wide variety of timbres. He does this with a keen intellectual understanding of the various elements he works with, achieving an extraordinary freshness in his music." Being acquainted with Turkish composers since forty

Erkan Oğur (pronounced [ˈeɾkan ˈoɰuɾ]), or Erkan Ogur in the West, (born 1954) is a Turkish musician. A pioneer of fretless guitars, he invented the first fretless classical guitar in 1976. A composer, he has influenced many musicians with his compositions combining the sounds of Turkish folk music, classical music with the ancient traditional music. He has played many concerts all over the world. He is regarded as a master of the kopuz and bağlama lutes. Erkan Oğur was born in 1954, in Ankara, Turkey. He spent his childhood in Elazığ, eastern Turkey, where he became interested in violin and the Turkish bağlama lute, and started to practice them frequently. He graduated from high school in Elazığ, then moved to study physics at the Ankara University Faculty of Science from 1970 to 1973. As a result of encouragement to be a scientist by his father, he started to study chemical engineering and in 1974 continued his education in The Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Germany, for three years. He was introduced to guitar education in 1973. Instead of being a scientist, he chose to be a musician. Since he needed detailed sounds from a guitar in order to obtain Turkish melodies, he

Fahir Atakoğlu is a Turkish pianist and composer who has worked with a wide range of artists across many genres of music, ranging in style from symphonic scoring to advertising jingles. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey. From the age of 7, Atakoğlu was interested in music and began playing piano and drums. Though his family intended for him to continue in the family business, his mother fostered his interest in music and through his music teacher Muzaffer Uz he was introduced to Cemal Reşit Rey, Turkey’s famous composer, pianist, script writer, and conductor. Atakoğlu studied under Rey from 1977-1979. He attended the Istanbul State Conservatory from 1978-1980. In 1980 he moved to London and for five years studied at both the London School of Music and Croydon College. He earned a degree in marketing and advertising from Croydon College in 1983 and returned to Istanbul to work as a jingle composer in the advertising sector. From 1987 to present, Atakoğlu has created music for commercials, news segments, and documentaries via advertising agencies including Lintas, McCann Erickson, CDP Europe, Young & Rubicam, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Ogilvy & Mather. Atakoğlu acknowledges that his

Osman Zeki Üngör (1880–1958) was a Turkish composer, violin virtuoso and lyricist, who served as the first conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Turkey. Üngör further helped establish the State Conservatory of Turkey and served as its first headmaster, involving himself actively in the creation of laws whereby the education of students with special artistic talent would be wholly sponsored by the government. Notable works include the symphonic arrangement of the original 1921 score for the Turkish National Anthem, İlim Marşı, Azm-ü Ümit Marşı, Töre Marşı, Türk Çocukları, and Cumhuriyet Marşı. Üngör was born in Üsküdar, Istanbul in 1880 as the son of a sugar merchant and the grandson of Santuri Hilmi Bey - a well-regarded musician in the Ottoman Imperial Court and the founder of the Fasl-ı Cedid body of the Muzika-i Hümayun ("The New Fasıl Division" of the Ottoman Imperial Orchestra). After completing his education at the middle school of the Beşiktaş Military Academy, he was admitted into the Musical Academy of the Ottoman Imperial Orchestra in 1891 at the age of 11, where he quickly garnered the attention of his instructors as well as that of Sultan

Emir Merzeci is a composer.

Darío Moreno (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968) was a Turkish polyglot singer of Jewish origin, as well as an accomplished composer, lyricist and guitarist, who was born in Aydın, Turkey, in 1921, and who attained fame and made a remarkable career centered in France which also included films, during the 1950s and the 1960s. His real name was David Arugete and he was born in the poorer Jewish quarter of İzmir to a large family. He was orphaned in early childhood when his father, who worked in a train station in the city, was shot dead under tragic circumstances. He was placed in the Sephardic orphanage of İzmir (Nido De Guerfanos) by his mother and remained there until he was four. After a primary education in the Jewish educational establishments of İzmir, he did many odd jobs during his early youth. But he has also put great effort into improving his education at the same time while working to make a living, and having started as an errand boy in the cabinet of one of the city's prominent lawyers, he was in time raised to becoming a clerk in his office. In the evenings, he would study French in İzmir's Central Library. With a guitar that had fallen into his hands by chance, he also

İlhan Mimaroğlu is a musician and composer. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey on March 11, 1926, the son of the famous architect Mimar Kemaleddin Bey depicted on the Turkish lira banknotes, denomination 20 lira, of the 2009 E-9 emission. He graduated from Galatasaray High School in 1945 and the Ankara Law School in 1949. He went to study in New York supported by a Rockefeller Scholarship. He studied musicology at Columbia University under Paul Henry Lang and composition under Douglas Moore. During the 1960s he studied in the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Center under Vladimir Ussachevsky and on occasions worked with Edgard Varèse and Stefan Wolpe. He is an electronic music composer, and also was the producer for Charles Mingus' Changes One and Changes Two, as well as Federico Fellini's Satyricon. He was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition in 1971. He worked as a producer for Atlantic Records, and created his own record label there, Finnadar Records, and collaborated with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard on a moving anti-war statement, Sing Me a Song of Songmy in the same year. His notable students include Ingram Marshall.

Mustafa Sandal, commonly known as Musti, is a famous Turkish pop singer. He is fluent in English, Turkish, Italian and French. He emerged in the early 1990s with the revival of Turkish pop music and is one of the most successful pop singers in Turkey with overall sales of 13 million copies. Musti is famous in Europe for his songs "Moonlight", "Araba" and "İsyankar" in countries such as Germany, Belgium Switzerland, and Austria. He is also known in the United States, Russia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Sandal is married to popular Serbian singer Emina Jahović and has two sons with her. Mustafa Sandal was born on 11 January 1970 in Istanbul. When he started school, his classmates and teachers quickly realized his talents in music. When Musti heard a song, he was immediately able to pick out the different instruments and their melodies throughout the music. He finished high school at Collège du Léman in Geneva, Switzerland. He then attended New Hampshire College in the United States. After graduating, he went back to Istanbul. During this time, Musti became involved in writing music with many songwriters. In a short time, he began to write his own music and wrote songs for famous

Hasan Cihat Örter (born October 24, 1958 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish composer, guitarist and arranger who specialized in remixes of traditional Turkish music, particularly instrumental, folk, jazz, new-age, vocal and dance music. He has recorded numerous albums and his compositions and transcriptions are widely published.

Sinan Akçıl (born 20 May 1981) is a Turkish composer, songwriter, music producer and singer; famous for his work with Turkish pop singer İzel and Hadise's Eurovision 2009 song for Turkey, called Düm Tek Tek. Sinan Akçıl was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 20 May 1981. He is the son of musician Saim Akçıl. His career started with Emel Müftüoğlu's eighth studio album, called Arabesk. After this album, he started working continuously with Yaşar, he also contributed to the albums of such notable artists like Zeynep Casalini. He became famous when he met İzel and having a musical and personal relationship with her. He also has recently worked with singers such as Ferhat Göçer, Gülben Ergen, Ziynet Sali. His Eurovision song Düm Tek Tek took place in 4th place in Eurovision 2009.

Ahmet Ertegün (ˈɑːmɛt ˈɛɾtɘgɘn, Turkish pronunciation: [ahˈmet eɾteˈɟyn]; July 31 [O.S. July 18] 1923 – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records, and for discovering or championing artists like Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Genesis, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and more. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum. Ertegun has been described as "one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry." He also co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League. Born in Istanbul to a Turkish family, Ahmet and his family, including elder brother Nesuhi, moved to Washington, D.C. in 1935, with their father, Münir Ertegün, who served as the first Ambassador of the then-young Republic of Turkey to the United States of America. Ahmet's older brother Nesuhi introduced him to jazz music, taking him to see the Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway orchestras in London at the age of nine. At the age of fourteen his mother bought him a

Hümeyra Akbay (Turkish pronunciation: [hymejˈɾaː akˈbaj]) (born October 15, 1947) is a Turkish actress, singer, composer, and lyricist. Enjoying fame as early as in the 1970s as a singer and actress, her popularity with the new generation rose in the 2000s with the sitcom Avrupa Yakası and the feature drama My Father and My Son directed by Çağan Irmak. In the 1970s her songs "Kördüğüm", "Sessiz Gemi", "Otuz Beş Yaş" were very successful. Her later albums Tutkulardan İntihar, Beyhude were outside the mainstream. "Tutkulardan İntihar" was one of the first examples of Turkish rap songs. She debuted in theater. Her debut acting in a feature film was Talihli Amele. In 1985, with Ferhan Şensoy's "Ortaoyuncular" troupe, she took part in the stage play İçinden Tramvay Geçen Şarkı. In 1986, she won the Golden Orange for Best Supporting Actress Award with her performance in Asiye Nasıl Kurtulur? at Antalya Film Festival. She was also awarded the honorary "Illuminating Apollo" award at the 10th İstanbul International Meeting of Cinema-History in 2007. She has married and divorced actor Fikret Hakan and later director Ömer Kavur.

Kamran N. İnce (born May 6, 1960) is a Turkish-American composer. Ince was born in Glendive, Montana, and at the age of six moved with his family to Turkey. He entered the Ankara State Conservatory at the age of ten, in 1971, where he began studying cello and piano, and took composition lessons with İlhan Baran. In 1977 Ince entered the İzmir University where he studied composition with Muammer Sun, but returned to the United States in 1978. He enrolled at the Oberlin College in Ohio in 1980, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1982, and went on to complete his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music in 1984 and 1987. His teachers there included David Burge (piano), Joseph Schwantner, Christopher Rouse, Samuel Adler and Barbara Kolb (composition). Ince won a Prix de Rome and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987, and the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize in 1988. In 1990, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan to become a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, and in 1992 joined the faculty of the University of Memphis, where he teaches composition, co-directs the University of Memphis Imagine New Music Festival. In addition, Kamran İnce founded the Center for

Emre Aracı, (born 22 December 1968, Ankara) Turkish music historian, conductor, composer. Dr Emre Aracı is a Turkish music historian, composer and conductor who has been living in the United Kingdom since 1987. He has made original contributions to the scholarship of Turkish music through his pioneering research focusing primarily on the European musical practice in the Ottoman court. Aracı studied music at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1994 with a BMus (Hons.) degree which was followed by a PhD in 1999. Supported by Lady Lucinda Mackay and the Inchcape Foundation, the subject of his thesis was the life and works of Turkey's eminent 20th century composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun (1907–1991). During his years at Edinburgh, Aracı played an active role in the musical life of the university and founded the Edinburgh University String Orchestra, which still continues to give regular concerts and is run by student volunteers. In 2000 the orchestra established the Emre Aracı Composition Prize which has since been annually awarded to young aspiring student composers. Thanks to a funding by the Turkish Economy Bank (TEB), between 1999-2002 Aracı was Research Associate at the

Emir Işılay is a Turkish Jazz and Film Composer and pianist/keyboardist. He is a graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and has worked as a music arranger/orchestrator/engineer on projects including "Boomtown" NBC, "Eyes" ABC TV Series, and "Soul Plane" MGM Feature Film He also wrote additional music for the WB TV series Aaron Spelling production Summerland for the 1st and 2nd seasons (26 Episodes) and Lifetime Television feature production "Murder on Pleasant Drive". He has played performed and/or worked with artists such as David Foster, Russell Ferrante, Heitor Pereira, Marco Mendoza, Michael Landau, Simon Phillips, and Jon Finn. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Emir Refik Gamsızoğlu (born December 1, 1973 in İstanbul) is a Turkish pianist and composer. Emir Gamsızoğlu was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He was a professional basketball player in Turkish Leagues until his university years; however, an accident he had in a game ended his basketball career. His musical talent discovered after this accident by his mother Oya Ölçen, he began studying with Prof. Ova Sünder in 1994 and was admitted to Istanbul University State Conservatory the next year. In 1999, he was awarded the "Young Musician of the Year" by the Lions Club. After his graduation, he continued his studies with Seba Baştuğ Şen and Hüseyin Sermet. He began his master degree in The City College of New York in 2009. He studied composition and conducting with Pulitzer prize winner composer David Del Tredici. He is also known for his radio program "Notada Yazmayanlar (Unwritten on the Scores)" with Memet Ali Alabora, which went on in the years 2001-2003. The purpose of the program was to introduce classical music to public and to discuss the upcomings in the classical music world. The program was invited to 32nd Istanbul International Music Festival in June 2004. Gamsızoğlu himself was

Okay Temiz (b. 1939, Istanbul, Turkey) is a leading Turkish fusion jazz percussionist and drummer.

Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964 in Istanbul) is a Turkish pop music singer and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music. In Europe, she is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with her hit song "Every Way That I Can", although she has had many other achievements outside Turkey. A native of Istanbul, Erener studied history of music in a university in the city before beginning her musical career working with Turkish music icon Sezen Aksu. She released her first album, Sakin Ol, in 1992, and followed it with four more Turkish-language albums over the next decade. Her album Lâ'l was included by Sony Music in its "Soundtrack For A Century" collection. After competing unsuccessfully in two national Eurovision Song Contest finals in 1989 and 1990, she was internally selected in 2003 and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, representing Turkey with the song "Every Way That I Can", co-written by Demir Demirkan. The song went on to top charts in countries all over Europe, including Sweden and Greece. In the

Mehmet Barış Manço (also spelled Boris Mancho in some European album releases), born Tosun Yusuf Mehmet Barış Manço, (January 2, 1943 - February 1, 1999) was a Turkish rock singer, composer, and television producer. The names Tosun and Yusuf were legally removed during his primary school years. He composed about 200 songs, some of which were translated into a variety of languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian, Urdu and Arabic. He remains one of the most popular public figures of Turkey. Manço was born in Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey on January 2, 1943. His mother, Rikkat Uyanık, was a famous singer in early 1940s. His older brother, who was born during World War II, was named Savaş ("war" in Turkish) while he was named Barış ("peace" in Turkish) by his parents to celebrate the end of the war. His fame greatly popularized the use of the name Barış in Turkey. At birth, he was additionally named Tosun Yusuf after his deceased uncle Yusuf called Tosun (literally: Yusuf The Sturdy). However, this name was erased just before he attended the primary school. In primary school his head was shaven to prevent head lice, a serious threat back then,

Cemal Reşit Rey (October 25, 1904 - October 7, 1985) was a Turkish composer, pianist, script writer and conductor. He was born on October 25, 1904 in Jerusalem, and died on October 7, 1985 in Istanbul. He was one of the five pioneers of classical music in Turkey (termed the 'The Turkish Five') in the first half of the 20th century. Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul is named after him.

Orhan Gencebay (born August 4, 1944 in Samsun, Turkey as Orhan Kencebay) is a Turkish musician, bağlama virtuoso, composer, singer, arranger, music producer, music director, and actor. Gencebay was born in the coastal town of Samsun on August 4, 1944, to Crimean Tatar and Balkan Turkish parents. He started learning music at the age of six, taking violin and mandolin lessons from Emin Tarakçı who was an old Classical Musician from the Ukraine Conservatoire. At the age of seven, he started playing the bağlama (a traditional Turkish instrument), and continued taking traditional Turkish folk music lessons. At ten, he created his first composition. At thirteen, he started playing the tambur, an instrument often used in Turkish classical music to improve himself in the theoretical and practical details of Turkish classical music. During his high school years, he performed in Classical and Traditional Turkish Folk Music groups playing the tambur and baglama, taught music lessons in his own music courses, and took part in organizing community music centers in Istanbul and Samsun. When he was sixteen, he became interested in jazz and rock music, and started playing tenor saxophone in wind

Ozan Musluoglu was born in Germany in 1977 and started playing bass guitar at the age of 16. In 2000, He won a full scholarship to the Bilgi University Music Department; and in 2001, He started his studies with Volkan Hursever, James Lewis and Kursat And. He has since then shared the stage with Kerem Gorsev, Vanessa Rubin, Danny Grissett, Dena Derose, Allan Harris, Tuna Otenel, Imer Demirer, Donovan Mixon, Erkan Ogur and Neset Ruacan. He has done workshops with very well known bassists as Marc Johnson, David Friesen, Dominique Lemerie and Robert Balzar. He had the opportunity to play with some musicians like Marcus Miller, Roy Hargrove, Mike Stern, Willy Jones, Eric Reed, Erik Smith, Katy Roberts, Leslie Harrison, Bebel Gilberto, Ilhan Ersahin, EJ Strickland, George Colligan and Bernard Maury in various jam sessions and club dates. Also, as bassist of the group Athena from 2003–2008, he recorded albums and toured nationally and internationally, including representing Turkey in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest where they placed 4th. In January 2009, Ozan Musluoglu enthusiastically released his first album under the Recbyjazz label. In addition to 6 of his own compositions, he

Zeki Müren (Turkish pronunciation: [zeˈci myˈɾen]) (born in Bursa, Turkey on 6 December 1931, died in İzmir on 24 September 1996) was a prominent Turkish singer, composer and actor. He was famous for his compelling voice and precise articulation in his singing of both established Turkish classical music and contemporary songs. Müren grew up in the provincial capital city of Bursa in western Turkey. From 1950 to 1953 he studied decorative arts in Istanbul at the Fine Arts Academy while launching his musical career. Müren’s first album was issued in 1951, at which time he was a regular singer on Istanbul Radio. In 1955, he produced his first Gold Record. In his forty-five-year professional career Müren composed more than three hundred songs and made more than six hundred recordings. He was celebrated as the "Sun" of classical Turkish music and was affectionately called "Pasha". For many years he reigned as "Artist of the Year". Many of Müren's records were also published in Greece, where he also enjoyed popularity, along with the U.S., Germany, Iran, and several other countries during the 1960s and 1970s. Müren was also a gifted poet, publishing Bıldırcın Yağmuru (The Quail Rain) in

Ahmed Adnan Saygun (7 September 1907 - 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. Ahmed Adnan Saygun is acknowledged as one of the most important 20th century composers in Turkish music history. He was a master of the neoclassical form, and his works are rooted in Western musical practice; yet they incorporate traditional Turkish folk songs and culture. He usually adds this folk element by picking one note out of the scale and weaves a melody around it using a Turkish mode. His extensive output includes five symphonies, five operas, two piano concertos, concertos for violin, viola and cello, and a wide range of chamber and choral works. The London Times called him "the grand old man of Turkish music, who was to his country what Jean Sibelius is to Finland, what Manuel de Falla is to Spain, and what Béla Bartók is to Hungary." As Saygun was growing up in Turkey he witnessed radical changes in his country’s politics and culture as the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had replaced the Ottoman Empire—which had ruled for nearly 600 years—with a new secular republic based on Western models and traditions. As Atatürk had created a new cultural identity for

Bora Ayanoğlu is an actor and a composer.

Kenan Doğulu (born 31 May 1974 in Cihangir, Beyoğlu, Istanbul) is a Turkish pop musician. He represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, where he placed fourth, with 163 points. He is second son of Yurdaer Doğulu (1941–1987). His father was also a musician and released 4 LPs and 30 45rpms. At the early age of five, he enrolled into the piano class of the School of Music with the highest scores. Having completed six years of education in the piano class, he started flute classes from Erkan Alpay, his instructor, and continued with guitar classes from Erdem Sökmen with the establishment of the class. In the mean time he continued his education in drama and rhythmic instruments, and he carried on singing as a soloist in the children's chorus. Later, he successfully graduated from Kültür Koleji and completed the Communications certificate program at Hesser College. His first album, Yaparım Bilirsin was released in August 1993. 93 concerts held that year was a considerable achievement in Turkey. His second album Sımsıkı Sıkı Sıkı was released in December 1994 and achieved an unbelievable success with 175 live performances of the singer that year. The album Kenan

Mazhar Kerem Özyeğen — was born on September 26, 1977 in İstanbul, Turkey. Lead guitarist and one of the backing singers in the Turkish rock group Mor ve Ötesi. Previously played and sang in punk-rock group Spark, and later in a jazz-rock group Crusiana. Mazhar Kerem Özyeğen was born on September 26, 1977 in İstanbul. His mother's name is Ayla Özyeğen (he devoted latest album of group Mor ve Ötesi — Büyük Düşler to her), his father's name is Atilla Özyeğen. Kerem studied International Relations at Girne American University. In the period 1993—1996 Kerem was in the group Spark, which he founded with friends while he was in high school. There he was a guitarist and vocalist. The group was strongly influenced by bands such as Nirvana, Sex Pistols, Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine. Nevertheless, the group members themselves wrote the music and lyrics. Kerem gave a few concerts and recorded and recorded a few demo songs. Soon he switched to another group, Siddhartha. The team performed in the style of psychedelic rock. In 1996, they received second prize at a music contest called Roxy Muzik Gunleri. He participated in recording their first album, issued in 1998 . In 1996 Kerem

Can Atilla (born in 1969) is a Turkish composer and musician. He composed "Diriliş" (Resurrection), the official music for the 90th anniversary of the Turkish parliament.

Ahmet Kanneci (born 21 June 1957) is a Turkish guitar virtuoso particularly on the Classic style. Currently, Kanneci is the chairman of the Department of Guitar, at Hacettepe University State Conservatory and actively teaching as well. Born in Halfeti, Turkey, Kanneci began his music studies with Turgay Erdener, İstemihan Taviloğlu and Ali Sevgi. Meeting Julian Byzantine, with whom he continued his music studies, in 1977, he turned his attention to classical guitar. He was educated at the Ankara Science High School and later studied architecture at the METU. While studying architecture, he was awarded a scholarship from the Spanish Government to study with José Tomás at the "Conservatorio Superior de Música Óscar Esplá de Alicante". He has had the privilege of playing for Alirio Diaz and receiving his critical acclaim. When he came back to his native country, Turkey, he has found several classical guitar departments in different conservatories. Since then he is a leading voice in academical music, and an acclaimed musician and teacher. 1993 Fulbright Grantee.

Atilla Özdemiroğlu, aka Attila Özdemiroğlu, (born January 5, 1943 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish composer and arranger. He is best known for his award winning film scores in the 1970s and 1980s. Özdemiroğlu got interested in playing music already in his early years. At his age of eight, he took private lessons on violin. Learning to play many music instruments such as flute, vibraphone, double bass and trombone, he participated at music events during his high school and university years. In 1966, he moved to Istanbul and joined the music band Durul Gence 5. Later, Özdemiroğlu played in several other music groups and also for Turkish pop stars like Ajda Pekkan, Nilüfer, Kayahan and Sezen Aksu. One of his compositions, Pet'r Oil, was selected for Turkey's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980. Özdemiroğlu was awarded five times for his film scores at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and twice at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival. Atilla Özdemiroğlu married four times so far. He made his first marriage with Ayla at his age of 19. From this marriage that lasted eleven years, he has a daughter, Yaprak Özdemiroğlu, who became a film actress, and a son, Sarp Özdemiroğlu, who

Bülent Ortaçgil (born March 1, 1950) is a Turkish composer and singer. He was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1950. He moved to Istanbul after starting elementary school which he finished at Sultanahmet Elementary School in Istanbul. He completed his middle school and high school education at Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi (former Kadıköy Maarif Koleji). He graduated from the University of Istanbul, Faculty of Chemistry. He started playing guitar while at Kadıköy Maarif Koleji. Another popular composer and singer Mazhar Alanson (from the band MFÖ) was at the same school although it is not clear whether they were friends. He played with some, including Damlalar (Drops). His music has been influenced by various artists, including The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Donovan and Bob Dylan. His first long play was called “Anlamsız” (Meaningless), which he published while in college. In 1974, his first album was released under the title “Benimle Oynar Mısın?” (Will You Play with Me?), considered to be a classic. Onno Tunç and Ergun Pekcan were among those who helped the recording and mastering of his albums. He took a ten year break from music after he got married. During this time, he worked as a chemical

Münir Nurettin Selçuk (1900 – April 27, 1981) was a Turkish classical musician and tenor singer. He was one of the most revered names in Turkish music. He was born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire in 1900 or 1901. As a youth, Selçuk studied in Hungary before returning to Turkey and becoming a musician. In 1927, he travelled to Paris for a musical education, then began working for the Istanbul Conservatory in 1953. He was the director of the Conservatory for a total of sixteen years. Selçuk spent some time singing in stage musicals. One of Selçuk's most important legacies was the establishment of the position of lead singer in Turkish music. He died on April 27, 1981. He fathered two sons, both of whom followed his footsteps into music, pianist composer Timur Selçuk, and jazz drummer composer Selim Selçuk. He appeared in the films "Üçüncü Selim'in Gözdesi" (1950), "Hasret" (1944), "Kahveci Güzeli" (1941) and "Allah'ın Cenneti" (1939) as well as composing for three films.

Ahmet Uzel was born in Bursa in 1930. He lived there until the age of 10 and spent his childhood with his families￢ﾀﾙ business: Phaetons. The first steps towards the creation of the UZEL Group of companies were taken in the year 1937 in an environment where Turkey was in a struggle to achieve integration into the world community after a long war. In 1940, his father Ibrahim Uzel decides to move his business therefore the Uzel family settles in ￄﾰstanbul. In 1941 he started Galatasaray High School, known as Mekteb-i Sultani. During his studies at Galatasaray, he was interested in music and literature. These interests had lasted for his lifetime. He had two interests; music, literature-poetry and especially his father￢ﾀﾙs business in Sirkeci. The dualism that he built between art and business was significant during all his lifetime. 1948 was the year in which he started business life, wrote his first poem and composed his first musical piece. In 1961, Uzel started to produce Massey Ferguson tractors as Uzel Makina San. A.ￅﾞ. Ahmet Uzel posted as the chairman of Uzel Makina San. A.ￅﾞ. after his father ￄﾰbrahim Uzel died in 1962. Ahmet Uzel, managed a license agreement with Perkins

Şahin was born in 1971 in Turkey. His parents came from Sivas, a city in Anatolia which is known for his numerous poets and folk singers. At the age of 13, he found his first enquiries and collections of undiscovered Anatolian folk songs by travelling through different regions of Anatolia to get to know the local musical variety closer. Ercan Şahin taught in different "national education centres", youth centres, foundations and private music schools "Bağlama", in Bursa, Turkey. In 1987 he founded his first music group and took part in different concerts in Germany and Turkey, accompanied by many singers and musicians with his "Bağlama". At the end of 1994, Ercan Şahin moved to Cologne and continued his musical career there. He worked as musician in the Arkadas theatre. Since 1995, he taught the Anatolian stringed instrument "Bağlama" and music theory, particularly for people from Turkey, at the art house “Mosaik” and in different municipal music schools in Germany. In 1999 Ercan Şahin published his first album Gam Elinden. In the same year, he prepared his pupils for a big musical event. A total of 174 of his Baglama pupils took part in the musical event “Saga of Millenium“ in the

Kudsi Erguner (born 1952) is a Turkish musician. He is considered a master of traditional Mevlevi Sufi music and is one of the best-known players of the Turkish ney flute. He was born in Diyarbakır, Turkey in 1952. As a boy, Kudsi studied with his father Ulvi Erguner and attended the Sema of the Mevlevi-Sufi tradition along with other Dervish ceremonies. He started his musical career in Istanbul Radio in 1969. For several decades, he has researched the earliest roots of Ottoman music which he has also taught, performed and recorded. In the seventies Kudsi Erguner moved to Paris where, at the beginning of the eighties, he founded the Mevlana Institute devoted to the study and teaching of classical Sufi music. Together with the Kudsi Erguner Ensemble he developed deep insights into the diversity of his culture: the group conveys both authentic, often improvised forms of expression of classical Ottoman performance culture as well as a comprehensive repertoire of modern and classical pieces that can be traced back to the 13th century. He took part in Peter Brook's movie Meetings with Remarkable Men in 1978. In addition to his own recordings, Erguner has performed with Peter Gabriel

Fazlı Teoman Yakupoğlu (20 November 1967, Istanbul, Turkey ), using the stage name Teoman, was a popular Turkish acoustic rock singer and song-writer. His biggest hits include "Paramparça" (All In Pieces), Senden Önce Senden Sonra (Before You, After You), 17 and Papatya (Daisy). On Papatya, Turkish female rock singer Özlem Tekin features as backing vocals. Şebnem Ferah has also featured on a couple of Teoman's tracks. Teoman's music is mostly classified as "pop-rock" or "soft rock". After studying business administration and mathematics at Bogazici University, he transferred to and graduated from the sociology department of the same university. He completed his graduate study on women studies at Istanbul University. His formal music career was first started in his first band Mirage in 1986. Teoman staged with various bands for 10 years until his breakthrough song, "Ne Ekmek Ne de Su" (Neither Bread Nor Water) (music by Barlas Erinç- lyrics by Barlas Erinç and Teoman) which won the first prize in Roxy Müzik Günleri (Roxy Music Days). Lately, he announced on his official website that he was too tired with the life and decided to quit music, indefinitely.

Timur Selçuk (born 2 July 1946, Istanbul) is a renowned Turkish singer, pianist, conductor and composer. He is a son of the legendary Turkish neo-classical music composer, Münir Nurettin Selçuk, and the elder brother of the jazz drummer and composer Selim Selçuk. He started playing piano at the age of five and gave his first concert at seven. He was educated in Galatasaray High School and Istanbul Municipality Conservatory. Selçuk returned home after his study at the "Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris" and became a pioneer of the political composers in Turkey. With his chansons, he repeatedly stormed the hit lists. He is the founder and the conductor of the Istanbul Chamber Orchestra. He composed a great number of music to films and theater works, and also to the poems of Nâzım Hikmet. He twice participated in the Eurovision Song Contest; in 1975, he conducted the first ever Turkish entry, "Seninle Bir Dakika", that had been composed and arranged by others. Fourteen years later, in 1989, he returned as composer, lyricist, arranger and conductor for "Bana Bana", that was performed by the group Pan. One of the singers of the group was his daughter. The song finished 21st., in spite

Aşık Mahzuni Şerif (17 November 1940 — 17 May 2002), also known as Mahsuni Şerif, was a folk musician, ashik, composer, poet, and author from Turkey. Mahzuni Şerif was born in Berçenek village of Afşin, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey in 1940. The word Aşık preceding his name is a title used to indicate his position as a respected musician, but also indicates his affiliation with the Alevi variety of Shi'a Islam. He became one of Turkey's best-known musical interpreters, and brought strong intellectual and social elements into Turkish folk music and folk poetry. He died on 17 May 2002 in Porz, Köln, Germany, four days after his arrival for medical care about his heart problems. His writings become more widely known. Asking and Asking____ Made my mind go foolish By hitting it on the stones I looked for my dear fellow By asking and asking to all Some light out, some go out Some get up, some get down The palaces turn into ruins Enduring to all Enter Mahzuni into the friend’s affection Snow fell on the mountain of friends My youth in my life’s period Is wounded all The order of this earth is not smooth I shall not spend it with false words I may not execute myself Because of my conscience The

Onno Tunç (full name Ohannes Tunçboyacıyan, Armenian: Օհաննես Թունչբոյաջյան) was a leading Turkish-Armenian musician, working mainly as a composer and an arranger. Tunç also played bass guitar and occasionally double bass, contributing to the albums of several musicians. He was the elder brother of musician Arto Tunçboyacıyan. Onno Tunç was born in 1948 in Istanbul. His music experience started with the church choir of Hayrur Mangaz (Hundred students). In his first year of middle school, he had to drop out to go to work to support his family. Born in a financially limited family, he could not afford a musical instrument although they fascinated him, until Anush ("Sweet" in Armenian), the mother of his friend Arman bought her son a guitar, and one for Onno too. Onno, a fast-learning autodidact, started a music band and soon repaid Anush. He composed 175 songs and represented Turkey in many European music contests. A very close friend of Turkish singer Sezen Aksu, he co-wrote and composed many of the songs she performed throughout her career, as well as arranging all of her albums. It was widely known that his death tipped Sezen Aksu into depression. She dedicated her album Düş

Ulvi Cemal Erkin (March 14, 1906 – September 15, 1972) was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904 - 1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction of music in the newly established Turkish Republic. The use of Turkish folk music and modal elements in an entirely western symphonic style, characterised these composers. Ulvi Cemal Erkin's aptitude for music was noticed at a tender age by his mother, herself a pianist. His father was a senior civil servant in the Ottoman administration, contracted septicemia and died when the young Erkin was seven. The widowed mother and her three sons took refuge at the mansion of the maternal grandfather also a high ranking official of the declining Ottoman Empire and an intellectual. Erkin took his first piano lessons from Mercenier, a Frenchman, and later from Adinolfi; then, a renowned professor of music in Istanbul. He graduated from Galatasaray High School. Concurrent with his studies at the Galatasaray High School dispensing education in the French language, he pursued his efforts in the path of becoming a musician and availed himself of every

Fazıl Say (Turkish pronunciation: [faːˈzɯl saj]) (born January 14, 1970), is a Turkish pianist and composer born in Ankara, Turkey. Born in 1970 in Ankara, Turkey, Fazıl Say started playing the piano at the age of four. He continued his music training in Ankara State Conservatory as a student of Special Status for Highly Talented Children and graduated from piano and composition in 1987. At the age of seventeen he was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to study for five years with David Levine at the Robert Schumann Institute in Düsseldorf. He earned his diploma in Germany in 1991 as Concerto Soloist and became a piano and chamber music teacher in 1992 in Berlin Performing Arts and Music Academy. Say won the Europe Young Concert Soloists Competition in 1994 and then the Young Concert Artists International Auditions held in New York in 1995. Besides playing the piano, he has composed many oratorios, piano concertos, pieces of music for chamber, orchestra and piano and many other songs. Some of his compositions include Nazım and Requiem for Metin Altıok, four piano concertos, his orchestra piece Albert Einstein commissioned by Zurich Orchestra and his ballet named Patara which is

Mercan Dede (born Arkın Ilıcalı, 1966, Bursa, Turkey), also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America. He is a world music artist, playing a fusion of traditional acoustic Turkish and other oriental musics with electronic sounds. His best known albums include Seyahatname, Su, and Nar. He has worked in collaboration with Turkish and international musicians such as Susheela Raman, Dhafer Youssef, Sheema Mukherjee (Transglobal Underground) and Hugh Marsh. Dede graduated in media studies from Istanbul University and moved to Canada as an art teacher, specialising in ebru (a traditional Turkish marbled printing). He is still a resident of Canada. Dede speaks Turkish, Arabic, French, Persian, and English. The Mercan Dede ensemble was founded in 1997, by which time Arkın had been working as a musician for some years. Their first album was Sufi Dreams, released in 1998. This album got a boost when the music was used in a German television documentary on Sufi music. In 2001 he released his third album, Seyahatname, which means "travelogue" in old Turkish, evokes the era of the great

Şivan Perwer (pron: Shivân Parwar) (born on September 23, 1955 in Sarıdam (Sorî), Siverek, Turkey as İsmail Aygün) is a Kurdish poet, writer, musical teacher, singer, and performer on the tembûr (lute). Şivan lives in exile after fleeing Turkey in 1976 because of his music. For many years, his songs were banned in Iraq, Syria,and Turkey because they are sung in Kurdish and often cite the oppression against the Kurdish people in the Middle East. Şivan's homemade recordings were smuggled over the border, while thousands of people came to see him perform live. Fearing for his life and the welfare of his family and after calls from Turkish authorities demanding his arrest, he fled Turkey and settled in Germany in 1976. There, Şivan recorded his first official album of traditional Kurdish songs. In 1991, Şivan appeared at the "Simple Truth" Live aid concert, performing alongside Peter Gabriel, Sting, Paul Simon, Tom Jones, Gipsy Kings as well as other international artists. The proceeds from the concert went to the aid of Kurdish refugees in the Iraqi Kurdistan fleeing the Gulf War and was considered as one of the most important humanitarian efforts for the region. In 2004, Şivan took