Date: May 12, 2018
Time: 18.30
Venue: Cappadocia Campus – Argos in Cappadocia
Event Type: Seminar
Organized by: Club
Seminar and Performance: Mercan and Erdal Erzincan
Who is Erdal Erzincan?
Erdal Erzincan was born in 1971 in Erzurum Aşkale. He learned to play the bağlama at a young age. In 1981, he moved to Istanbul and started taking bağlama lessons from Arif Sağ in 1985. In 1989, he entered the Basic Sciences Department of the Turkish Music State Conservatory at Istanbul Technical University. He researched the technique of playing the bağlama without a plectrum (şelpe). He presented his university thesis on “The Application and Notation of Finger Tapping Technique on the Bağlama.”
His first solo album, “Töre,” was released in 1994.
In 1996, Erdal Erzincan, along with Arif Sağ and Erol Parlak, performed a concert with the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Betin Güneş, supported by President Roman Herzog. The concert’s repertoire was released as an album titled “Concerto for Bağlama.”
In 2004, with the support of President Heinz Fischer, Erdal Erzincan performed at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the Ambassade Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Russell McGregor. This “Classic Cem” concert was also performed in the Netherlands with two different orchestras.
In the fall of 2004, he performed concerts with Iranian kamancha artist Kayhan Kalhor and prepared an instrumental album. The instrumental album “The Wind,” created with Kayhan Kalhor, was released by ECM Records internationally and in Turkey. Along with Kayhan Kalhor, he performed concerts in Turkey, Europe, the United States, and Canada as part of a tour organized by the World Music Institute.
In 2004, Erdal Erzincan founded the “Bağlama Orchestra,” consisting of his students. He performed concerts with the orchestra both in Turkey and abroad. For over ten years, he has been teaching at his music center. Since 2010, he has also been sharing his knowledge and experience with students as a lecturer at Yıldız Technical University.
Erdal Erzincan is married to Mercan Erzincan and has one son.
Books:
2009 – Bağlama Method (with Arif Sağ)
Albums:
1994 – Töre
1996 – Garip
1997 – Türküler Sevdamız (with İsmail Özden and Tolga Sağ)
1998 – Concerto for Bağlama (Instrumental, with Arif Sağ and Erol Parlak)
1999 – Gurbet Yollarında
2000 – Anadolu (Instrumental)
2001 – Türküler Sevdamız 2 (with Tolga Sağ and Yılmaz Çelik)
2002 – Al Mendil
2005 – Türküler Sevdamız 3 (with Tolga Sağ, Muharrem Temiz, and Yılmaz Çelik)
2006 – Kervan
2006 – The Wind (Instrumental, with Kayhan Kalhor)
2008 – Giriftar (Instrumental)
2011 – Girdab-ı Mihnet
2013 – Erdal Erzincan Bağlama Orkestrası
2016 – Karasu (Instrumental)
Who is Mercan Erzincan?
Mercan Erzincan was born in 1976 in Divriği, Sivas. After completing her primary education, she started at Istanbul Technical University’s Department of Musical Instruments Education in 1987 and graduated from the Basic Sciences Department in 1998.
In 1998, she released her first album, “Alican’a Ağıt,” followed by “Düşlerim Yol Alır” in 2003, “Mihman” in 2008, and “Seyir” in 2012. In 2002, she prepared and presented Turkish folk music programs on Radyo Barış, Cem Radyo in 2003, and Düzgün TV in 2007.
In 2005, she completed her master’s degree at Haliç University with a thesis titled “The Concept of Adaptation in Turkish Folk Music and a Musical Analysis of Four Zeybek Melodies.”
In 2007, she worked for three years in the women’s group “Sözümüz Var Şarkılarla,” and in 2008, in the “Kırk Yamalı Bohça” group. She participated in many concerts in Turkey and abroad.
In 2009, she was a Turkish folk music repertoire instructor at the “Labyrinth Musical Workshop” in Crete.
Since 1994, she has taught bağlama and Turkish folk music at the Erdal Erzincan Music Center and, since 2010, at the Nazım Hikmet Academy.
Mercan Erzincan is married to Erdal Erzincan and has one son.
