Ahmet Erdogdular started studying music at an early age with his father, Ömer Erdoğdular, and continued his musical development with the guidance of the renowned musician Niyazi Sayin. 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 Master’s degree in Turkish Classical Music under the guidance of Professor Alaeddin Yavas?a. 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 Sayin, Necdet Yasar and Kani Karaca, and performed with them in Turkey and around the world. Studying the techniques of masters of Ottoman music like Bekir Sitki Sezgin, and Meral Ugurlu, Ahmet learned the classical singing style.
With his father, he also analyzed the old LP recordings of Hafiz Sami, Hafiz Kemal, Hafiz Osman, Izak Al Gazi, Sadettin Kaynak, Hafiz Mecid and others, learning their voice and singing techniques in forms such as classical songs, gazel, kaside, and mevlid. From these great masters Ahmet learned the ways in which poetry is matched to the music so that the literary substance and the musical composition are equally represented when performing vocal improvisation. Ahmet also studied and performs Sufi musical repertoire that over centuries integrated spiritual practice and artistic expression. Those include the naat in Mevlevi ayins (known as ‘whirling dervish’ ceremony), as well as ilahi (hymns) and kaside (improvisation on religious poetry), as essential components of the Sufi zikir (remembrance ceremony).
Ahmet Erdogdular participated in various festivals in Europe, Asia and the United States performing both Ottoman classical and Sufi music. As a member of Lalezar Ensemble he performed in concerts and recorded a four CD Anthology of Ottoman Music in the United States. He performed as a soloist with The Necdet Yasar Ensemble in France, as well as with Kani Karaca in Japan, Niyazi Sayin in Austria and Kudsi Erguner in France, Morocco, Greece, and Italy.
Ahmet worked at the Turkish Radio as soloist, recorded a number of TV music program series, and is frequently featured in TRT television music programs.
Discography:
Reciting the Qur’an and Sufi Music of Turkey (2001)
Mevlevi Muzigi Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi 1 – Music Of The Whirling Dervishes (2006)
Gülizar (2007)
Songs of the Sultans (2009)
Niyaz – Sufi Songs of Love (2009)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.