Tevfik Akbasli
Encyclopedia
Studies
One of the most acknowledged 71 Turkish Composers, Akbasli is the son of businessman Samim Akbasli of IzmirIzmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
. He spent his childhood and elementary school years in Yesilkoy
Yesilköy
Yeşilköy is a neighborhood of the Bakırköy municipality of Istanbul, Turkey.It is located along the Marmara Sea about 11 kilometers west of Istanbul's historic city center...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
until his family moved to Izmir. He attended Dokuz Eylul University
Dokuz Eylül University
Dokuz Eylül University is one of the preeminent universities in Turkey. It is located in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 10 schools...
’s Vocal Studies and Opera Division and studied with names like Sevda Aydan, Suat Taser, Kamran Ince
Kamran Ince
Kamran N. İnce is a Turkish-American composer.- Life :Ince was born in Glendive, Montana, and at the age of six moved with his family to Turkey. He entered the Ankara State Conservatory at the age of ten, in 1971, where he began studying cello and piano, and took composition lessons with İlhan Baran...
and percussionist Oktay Aykoc while playing drums at various clubs in Istanbul and Izmir. He graduated from Vocal Studies in 1982 as the first chorister to the newly founded Izmir State Opera and Ballet. In 1985, he passed the orchestra exam and crossed over as a percussion artist. However, due to shortage of staff, he served at both the choir and the orchestra for a short period of time. Between 1986 and 1991, he went to the US and studied percussion instruments as well as theory, harmony, composition and improvisation at the Berklee School of Music in vibraphone virtuoso Gary Burton
Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
’s Percussion Department with Professor. Ed Saindon and pianist - composer Aydin Esen
Aydin Esen
Aydın Esen is a Turkish jazz musician who plays keyboards and electronics.Esen began music lessons at the age of 5 in Turkey. He moved to the United States when he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston,also he graduated from Berklee College of Music in two semesters and...
.
Career
He turned to composition in 1990. He succeeded at the position placement exam and made Assistant Principal Timpanist at the State Opera Orchestra. He composed an array of pieces from opera to musical for children, from modern dance music to chamber music. Upon the addition of his first opera, The Sacred Chest to the repertoire of The Ankara State Opera and Ballet, he moved to AnkaraAnkara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
and continued his career as an orchestra artist. The chamber music piece he was commissioned to compose, Autumn in Ankara was performed in Germany in 1994. He was awarded the Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin was a famous Turkish writer and humorist of Crimean Tatar origin and author of more than 100 books.-Pseudonyms:...
Grand Prize by the Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi for the music he composed for the Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
play in 1996, when he was also awarded the Special Jury Award by the Eczacıbasi Contest Jury for his symphonic poem, Turkiye. In 1998, he was again awarded the third place for his symphonic poem Dixi et Salvavi Animam Meam at the Eczacibasi’s composition contest, whereas in 2000, he was the first prize winner of the same contest for his orchestra suite called Rebirth which also came out as a CD and performed in the opening ceremony of the International Music Festival of Ephesus. Between 2000 and 2001, he attended workshops and master classes in contemporary American and film music in New York where his modern dance music Jamaican Pond Sunsets was performed. He joined the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet in 2002. His Ballet of 2003, The Conquest was awarded the Special Jury Award at a National Composition Contest by the Ministry of Culture.
In his work, Tevfik Akbaşlı opted for being comprehensible without lowering artistic and aesthetic levels and epitomized a lively, straightforward expression that embodies the indisputable reign of melody. Thanks to his three decades of performance history, he has observed that all masterpieces that are known to be classics this day are those that easily captivate the listener without being tiresome no matter how structurally complicated they are and that comprise of small but perfect pieces that can be mumbled effortlessly. He endeavored to follow the same path as those classics both as composer and performer.
MSG is the copyright holder to his work.
His Major Work and Awards:
Orchestra
- 1995 – Why? (Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra) performed by Presidential Symphony OrchestraPresidential Symphony OrchestraPresidential Symphony Orchestra is the presidential symphony orchestra of the Republic of Turkey. It is headquartered in Ankara...
and Izmir State Symphony Orchestra - 1996 - Turkiye (Symphonic Poem) - Eczacıbasi National Composition Contest - Special Jury Award
- 1997 - A Tribute to Freddie MercuryFreddie MercuryFreddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
- A Symphonic Rock Project with Opera Chorus - Ankara - 1998 - Dixi et Salvavi Animam Meam (Symphonic Poem) Eczacıbasi National Composition Contest - Third Place Award
- 2000 - Rebirth (Suit for Orchestra) Eczacıbasi National Composition Contest – First Prize Winner
performed by Bilkent Symphony Orchestra
Bilkent Symphony Orchestra
The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra is a major symphony orchestra of Turkey located in Bilkent, Ankara. It was founded in 1993 by Bilkent University. Since 1994 the orchestra is based in Bilkent Concert Hall...
and Istanbul State Opera and Ballet
- 2004 – Stay! (Music for Orchestra)
- 2008 - Wake up, Resist and Give in to the Light
Opera, Ballet, Modern Dance and the other Stage Works
- 1993 - The Sacred Chest (Opera in 2 Acts) 1993 / 1994 Ankara State Opera and Ballet
- 1993 - Dear Peace (Musical for Children in 2 Acts) 1993–1997 Izmir State Opera and Ballet / 1998–2000 Ankara State Opera and Ballet
- 1995 - Dinosours Were Young Also (Musical in 2 Acts)
- 1996 - Giordano BrunoGiordano BrunoGiordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
(Music for a Play) - Aziz Nesin Prize - 1996 - Ankara State Theater - 1997 - Mutation (Music for Modern Dance) 1997 - 1998 - Modern Dance Company - Ankara
- 1998 - A Little Family Matter (Play in 2 Acts)
- 1999 - Amber (Opera in 2 Acts)
- 2001 - Jamaica Pond Sunsets (Music for Modern Dance) 2001 - New York
- 2003 - Fetih - The Conquest (Music for Ballet) Ministry of Culture National Composition Contest – Special Jury Award
- 2009 - Suleiman the MagnificentSuleiman the MagnificentSuleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
(Stage Cantata) - 2010 - Kosem Sultan (Ballet)
Chamber music
- 1994 - Autumn in Ankara (Music for Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello) 1994 – Zigburg - Germany
- 2004 - Between Us (Music for Flute, Viola ve Cello) 2004 - Istanbul
Discography
- 2001 - Nejat F. Eczacıbasi National Composition Contest (1996–1998 – 2000) First Prize Winners’ CD
Bilkent Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Erol Erdinc
- 2007 - Beyaz Melek – The White AngelThe White AngelThe White Angel is a 2007 Turkish drama film, written and directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül, which follows the story of two Eastern youths who find themselves in a rest home after their father comes down with cancer...
- The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Chorus Conducted by Adam Klemens
- 2009 - Gunesi Gordum – I Saw the SunI Saw the SunI Saw the Sun is a 2009 Turkish drama film, written and directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül, which tells of a Kurdish family who are forced from their village in southeastern Turkey by the conflict there. The film, which was released on , was one of the highest grossing Turkish films of 2009, prompting...
- The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Chorus Conducted by Adam Klemens
- 2010 - Gecenin Kanatlari – Wings of the Night - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Chorus Conducted by Adam Klemens
- 2011 - New York' ta Bes Minare – Five Minarets in New YorkFive Minarets in New YorkFive Minarets in New York is a Turkish action film written and directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül, which follows two Turkish police officers sent to New York to bring back a smuggler. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on November 5, 2010, was one of the highest-grossing...
- The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Chorus Conducted by Adam Klemens