Born in Balıkesir in 1969, he began studying the harp at the age of 10 with Kaysu Doğansoy at the Ankara State Conservatory in 1980. In 1988 he graduated from the Conservatory and started working at the Presidential Symphony Orchestra (PSO) as solo harpist.
Apart from his career as the resident solo harpist of the PSO, he performed in various concerts and orchestras, being solo harpist at the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra (1989), at the Jeunesses Musicales Weltorchester (1992) and at the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (1992–1995).
In 1990 he played duo concert with Swiss harpist Ursula Holliger at the Festival Pontino di Music in Latina, Italy. In 1991 he won the Scholarship of German Academics (DAAD) and worked with Mariana Schmidt-Krickeberg and Regina Herwig at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and graduated with high degree diploma in 1993.
As a soloist, he performed with many orchestras all over the world including Dresdner Philharmoniker, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Gumi Music Festival Orchestra Korea, Polish Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, İzmir State Symphony Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, Mittelsächsischen Philharmonie, Istanbul Chamber Orchestra, National Reassurance Chamber Orchestra, Borusan Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Minsk Chamber Orchestra, Kyiv National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. He performed in several music festivals such as Salzburg Music Festival, Wien Modern, BBC Proms, Amsterdam Mahler Festival, Budapest Spring Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Festival de Radio France in Montpellier and Ferrara Musica and worked with world known conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Eötvös, Michael Gielen, Yakov Kreizberg, James Judd, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Tugan Sokhiev, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Vladimir Fedoseyev.
In 1992, he was invited to perform as guest musician in Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Dresdner Staatskapelle; between 2008 and 2010 he performed as guest artist in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. In 2006, he was invited to Felix Godefroid International Harp Competition as member of jury.
He is a dedicatee of works by several Turkish composers including Harp Concerto by Nejat Başeğmezler, Uzak Düş (The Distant Dream) for solo harp by Mahir Cetiz, Trio for flute, viola and harp by Hasan Tura, as well as Concerto for Harp and Ney and Anatolia Colors for flute and harp by Kemal Günüç.
He recorded several discs as soloist (on harp and recorder) and together with violinst Cihat Askin and flutist Nicole Esposito. In May 2012, he founded the Arpanatolia duo with Ferhat Erdem who plays Turkish folk instruments (ney, sipsi, kura etc.) In 2011 he participated in a EU project called Hattushah based on Hittite music in Anatolia.
In 2012, he played solo bass recorder in Fazıl Say’s Second Symphony (“Mesopotamia”). A DVD and CD production of these concerts came out end of 2012. In April 2015, he performed that same work with Dresdner Philharmoniker and Fazıl Say.
He was harp teacher at the Anadolu University State Conservatory beetwen 2010 and 2015 and is currently continuing his music career as the solo harpist of the PSO.
Information for March 2024
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