Born in Mersin, a Mediterranean city in Southern Turkey. His family moved to Istanbul in 1971. He was introduced to music by his mother, who was a ballet dancer before her marriage. He started private piano lessons with Hülya Saydam in 1980, his first compositions appeared in 1981. He entered at the Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory's composition department in 1984. Became a student of Erçivan Saydam, Adnan Saygun and Afşar Timuçin. After his graduation in 1991, he was appointed as an instructor in the same institution. Between 1991-96 he was a student in the composition class of İlhan Usmanbaş; earned his master's degree in 1994, pursued qualification in arts studies until 1996. From 1996 to 1999 he studied at Boston University with Lukas Foss and Marjorie Merryman. Upon finishing his doctoral studies at Boston University, he returned to Turkey and began to teach composition at his native institution, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory in Istanbul. At present he is a faculty member in the same institution.
Works
orchestra
Symposium Andante Lugubre Sforzati Carian Diary Portamento lento Four Turkish Folk Songs
chamber ensemble
Sinfonietta, wind instruments, timpani and xylophone Symphonic Dances, 7 percussionists Reflections, piano and nine performers Countryside Landscapes: Winter, fourteen string instruments Uzun Hava, eight winds and two string instruments
chamber music
Artvin Dance, brass quintet Sonata, violin and piano Poems with Music, six musicians and narrator Wanderings, two oboes, two clarinets and alto saxophone Laçin, arrangement for piano trio Four Pieces for Five Clarinets Reflections, accordion and piano Three Turkish Folk Songs, violoncello and piano The Land of Beautiful Horses, string quartet String Quartet
solo instrument
Partita, viola Face-to-Face with Saygun: Proliferations on Five Pieces from Modal Music, violin Taqsim, clarinet Pigeons, harp Horon!, violin
piano
Movement 1 Movement 2 Movement 3 Movement 4 Movement 5 Movement 6
Spoon Dance Air Dök zülfünü meydâna gel, polyphonic arrangement Allam alam, polyphonic arrangement for choir and percussions Kız sen geldin Çerkeş’ten, polyphonic arrangement
