Yigit Aydin was born in 1971 in Turkey. He graduated from Ankara State Conservatory at Hacettepe University with degrees BA in musical composition and MA in orchestral conducting. Parallel to his musical education he completed his studies at Middle East Technical University/Ankara with degrees BS in mechanical engineering and thereafter MS in sociology, focusing on contemporary social thought, deconstruction, Orientalism, Colonialism and Nationalism. For the time being he prepares his PhD thesis on the theme “New Turkish Music” at Musicological Institute in Marburg/Germany and lives in Frankfurt am Main. Through three composition prizes, he received a broader recognition in Turkey. Subsequently his compositions take part in international music festivals in Istanbul and Ankara, performed by leading Turkish orchestras and conductors, and some appeared in CD-recordings. In his compositions he mainly deals with the cultural difference among the western and eastern (musical) domains, endeavoring to problematize the commonly accepted oppositional perspective regarding them and, therefore, the clichés corresponding to this mode of perception.

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Born in Izmir in 1966. Took his first piano lessons at the age of 5 from his father who was a musician. Gave his first public concert when he was 10. Attended the Izmir and Ankara State Conservatories. Won the Extraordinary Talent Prize given by the Ankara Conservatory in 1977. Represented Turkey at the Sofia Music Festival in 1979 at the age of 13. Completed the normally eleven-year studies in the Ankara Conservatory in five years and obtained the right to become a member of the teaching staff at the age of 16.

Entered the Hannover Music Academy in 1982 on a Turkish state scholarship. Became the first among 120 competitors for entrance. Worked there with some of the most prominent professors in the field such as Ebert, Göetzke, Szdion and Plagge. Finished as first the Department of Soloists in 1992.

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Turkish/American Musician turns International Spotlight on Turkey
Yener Korkut, award winning instrumental songwriter/guitarist is now asking the world to go to www.yenerkorkut.com and vote. Yener’s song “Night Fall in Istanbul” is the Grand Prize Winner in Session l of the World Music Category out of 20,000 entrants. “Night Fall in Istanbul” is now going head to head in an online voting battle with a full blown Moldavian orchestra (who has mass support in their country) for the coveted “Lennon Award”. This portion of the contest is based *solely* on world wide online voting.

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is the most prestigious and popular songwriting competition and has entrants from around the world. Yener’s song “Night Fall in Istanbul” was chosen by a panel of judges such as Robin Gibbs from the Bee Gee’s, Al Jarreau, Teairra Mari, The Black Eyed Peas, Bob Wier (Grateful Dead), D12, The Bacon Brothers and other accomplished musicians and industry professionals. In the last three weeks Yener has received over 120,000 hits on his web site, representing a huge promotion for the Virgin Islands, St. Croix and especially Turkey. Word has spread with numerous publications to United States, Europe and Turkey.

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A young Turkish composer in the Netherlands:The Netherlands is one of Europe’s most productive countries in terms of the education, teaching, and implementation of modern music. And one of the Turkish musicians that participate in the Dutch work on this front is the 28-year-old Uğraş Durmuş, who was born in Manisa.

Durmuş, who graduated from departments of composition from Bilkent University followed by the Conservatory of Rotterdam, currently studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory under a musician considered by many as a great figure in modern music, Theo Loevendie. Durmuş expects to complete his master’s degree at the Amsterdam Conservatory in July.

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Mercan Dede believes that when you put digital, electronic sounds together with hand-made, human ones, you can create universal language, capable of uniting old and young, ancient and modern, East and West. It’s a bold claim, but the Turkish-born and Montreal-based musician/producer/DJ has the career and the music to back it up. When he takes the stage with his group Secret Tribe, he hovers at the side behind his turntables and electronics, occasionally picking up a traditional wooden flute, or ney to float in sweet, breathy melodies, while masters of the kanun (zither), clarinet, darbuka (hand drum) and whatever other instruments he’s decided to include that night, ornament his grooves and spin magical, trance melodies to match the whirling of the group’s spectacular dervish dancer, Mira Burke.

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A native of Turkey,born in Istanbul, Fahir Atakoglu is an international award winning composer and pianist, in the fields of large symphonic works and film music. His works have also been performed in various music festivals in Europe and across The United States to much acclaim. He is now finding a growing audience in Europe, Japan and in North America as well. His sensitivity as a composer deeply moves the audience by his unique rhythmic, melodic and harmonic sense. His music reflects his extraordinary talent in blending different musical cultures which make his compositions speak with striking originality, and always wonderfully connected to the culture of his motherland. Fahir Atakoglu, since 1986, composed jingles, documentary and film music for many national and international productions. Following his first album in 1994 he released 8 albums in 17 countries including USA and sold over nearly 2 million copies since. Amongst his many awards, he won First prize for Documentary at the Milano Film Festival 2000 for “Exile in Buyukada” and the best Song Award of Mega Channel, Greece, 2002, with Telos Dios Telos, sold over 400.000 copies. Ahmet Ertegun, of Atlantic Records, referred to Fahir Atakoglu as” .. one of the outstanding pianists and composers in Europe today … at the cutting edge of the world music.”

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