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Event
Ahmet Erdogdular Ensemble
Celebrate the opening of Turkfest 2011 with a concert of classical Turkish music by the Ahmet Erdogdular Ensemble! Comprised of Ahmet Erdogdular, Omer Erdogdular, Munir Beken, and Feridun Ozgoren, this group will perform a concert in an intimate, chamber music-style venue at the Seattle Asian Art Museum's Stimson Auditorium.
Performer Biographies:
AHMET ERDOĞDULAR
Ahmet Erdoğdular is Turkey's foremost vocalist noted for his role in preserving the classical singing style of the Ottoman Turkish musical tradition. He started studying music at an early age with his father, neyzen Ömer Erdoğdular, and continued his musical development with the guidance of the renowned musician Niyazi Sayın. He participated in various concerts as a lead singer while still a teenager.
Ahmet holds a BA degree from the Istanbul Technical University State Conservatory where he also completed his Masters degree in Turkish Classical Music under the guidance of Professor Alaeddin Yavaşça. He specialized in Turkish gazel (improvisation) technique, while his academic research is on the use of music and poetry in gazel forms of the late Ottoman period. Ahmet studied makam and improvisation techniques with Niyazi Sayın, Necdet Yaşar and Kani Karaca, and performed with them in Turkey and around the world.
ÖMER ERDOĞDULAR
Ömer Erdoğdular started studying music while still a child. He was born in Konya and grew up in Istanbul, initially learning ney from his father. In 1965 he began studying with Ümit Gürelman, and soon after started lessons with Niyazi Sayın, which continued for many years. In the following two decades, he participated in many radio and TV programs, orchestras and concerts in a period when ney just began to be rediscovered in Turkey. In 1980 he first appeared in concert with the famous soloist Bekir Sıtkı Sezgin, and from then on played in most of his concerts.
From 1984 to 1987, Ömer Erdoğdular was a neyzen in Nevzat Atlığ's Ministry of Culture Classical Turkish Music Chorus. He made several recordings, among them with Bekir Sıtkı Sezgin, tanburi Necdet Yaşar and kemençevi İhsan Özgen. In 1987 he became a member of the Ministry of Culture's State Classical Turkish Music Ensemble founded by Necdet Yaşar of which he is still an active member. As a soloist, a member of the State Classical Turkish Music Ensemble and also the Necdet Yaşar Ensemble, Ömer Erdoğdular performed around Turkey and in Europe, United States, Japan and the Middle East, participating in various festivals, concerts and recitals.
He devotes a significant amount of his time to teaching, both in Turkey, giving lessons and teaching in workshops, and in seminars abroad, such as the Labyrinth Musical Workshop in Greece, Makamhane in Austria and the Sufi Music Retreat in the United States of America.
MÜNİR NURETTİN BEKEN
Münir Beken's career spans theory, composition, ethnomusicology, and performance. As a composer, he has written a state-commissioned ballet suite for orchestra, won awards for film music, and scored television documentaries both domestically and internationally. His scholarly work focuses on modal theory; he is also conducting research on musical globalization and the phenomenology of music. He has published inEthnomusicology, a premier journal in the field, and contributed to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He was one of the founding members of the State Turkish Music Ensemble. As a soloist on the ud, he has performed in venues across the U.S. and has recorded a solo CD with Rounder Records.
FERİDUN ÖZGÖREN
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics from Istanbul University, Feridun Özgören started working for the State Institute of Statistics. In 1973 he came to the United States for an advanced degree in biostatistics at the University of Michigan. He obtained a masters degree in 1978 from the School of Public Health where he later worked as a research associate.
Özgören is also a musician and artist. His collaboration with several American musicians led to the founding of the EurAsia Ensemble in 1983 with the aim of studying and performing the traditional forms of Turkish music. In addition, he enjoys making classical instruments, including tanbur, ud, kemence, ney, latva, and bendir. During the last 10 years, Özgören has been the director of the Cambridge Mûsiki Cemiyeti, a choral and instrumental group devoted to Turkish music. He also practices ebru since 1986, which he learned from Niyazi Sayin, a highly respected artist and a master musician living in Istanbul. Özgören's distinctive style combines the rich patterns and sumptuous colors of traditional ebrû with the highly powerful inscriptions of Ottoman calligraphy.
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LocationSeattle Asian Art Museum, Stimson Aud. (View)
1400 East Prospect Street
Seattle, WA 98101
United States
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