Masters of Classical Ottoman Music

Masters of Classical Turkish Music

Sadreddin Özçimi: ney
Murat Aydemir: tanbur
Yasin Özçimi: ney

Born in Konya – the birthplace of the whirling dervishes – Sadreddin Özçimi (°1955) is considered to be the most important neyzen (master of the ney) in Turkey today. In absolute purity, he continues the line of legendary neyzens of the 20th century, such as Niyazi Sayin and Akagündüz Kutbay. Throughout his life, Sadreddin Ösçimi never ceased to be the neyzen başı (first ney) in Mevlevi music ensembles, while maintaining an impressive teaching activity. Elected by Unesco, he has been invited to represent the ney and Sufi music across the five continents.

Murat Aydemir was born in 1971 in Hanover, Germany. In 1982 he started his studies at the Istanbul Technical University, Turkish Music Government Conservatory. There, he studied tanbur with Necip Gülses for ten years, and in 1992 he graduated from the Instrument Education department. He also plays the lavta.
In 1989, Murat joined the Cultural Ministry’s Istanbul Government Classical Turkish Music Ensemble as a guest musician, under the direction of Necdet Yaşar.
Murat’s music is prominent in TV series and documentaries, and he has released many other recordings both in collaboration with and of solo performances with various artists.
In 2010, he published the Turkish Music Makam Guide, which has become a popular reference for English, Greek, and Turkish speakers approaching this music.

For this unique concert, Sadreddin Özcçmi’s son, the very masterfull neyzen Yasin Özçimi will be present a a second ney player.