Soner Özbilen (born 1947) is a Turkish

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer, conductor, and

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...

. The origins are Albania (Kosovo)

Early life

Soner Özbilen was born in

Boğazlıyan Boğazlıyan is a town in Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Boğazlıyan District.Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. He finished primary and middle school in Boğazlıyan, high school in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and studied at the Academy of Economy and Finance. Showing great interest in music in the school choir, he attended the Public Music Education Centre in Kadıköy and Aksaray Music Society for a while as a pupil of Orhan Dağlı, Nida Tüfekçi, Neriman Tüfekçi, and Yücel Paşmakçı. In 1966 he won the folk music singer competition organised by

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish: ) is the national public broadcasting, public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio broadcaster in Turkey. Before the introductio ...

(TRT) and became a trainee singer. During the three-year training period he studied under Turkish Music masters such as Nida Tüfekçi, Neriman Tüfekçi, Halil Bedii Yönetken and Ahmet Kutsi Tecer. As his training ended in 1969, he was admitted to Turkish Folk Music Group in TRT Istanbul.

Career

Influenced by Nida Tüfekçi (also from Yozgat), Çekiç Ali (from Kırşehir), Ahmet Gazi Ayhan (from Kayseri), Hacı Taşan (from

Keskin Keskin is a town in Kırıkkale Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Keskin District.

), Refik Başaran (from Ürgüp) and

Muharrem Ertaş Muharrem Ertaş (1913 – 3 December 1984) was a Turkish folk music singer and a virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument bağlama. He was one of the most important members of the Bozlak genre. Early life He was born in 1913 in the village ...

(from Kırşehir); Soner Özbilen developed his own style focusing on

Rumeli Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and vassals in Europe. These ...

songs for the last ten years. Along with appearing regularly in concerts and TRT radio-TV programmes, he performed in festivals in many regions of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He took part in International Music and Folk Dance Festivals organized in Macedonia, France, Spain, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Libya, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and Finland. Soner Özbilen, who has contributed to Turkish Folk Music repertory by compiling songs from several regions of Turkey, is still working as a singer and as a conductor for TRT.

References

1947 births Living people People from Boğazlıyan Turkish folk singers Turkish conductors (music) Turkish male singers Turkish musicians Turkish people of Albanian descent Turkish people of Kosovan descent {{Turkey-singer-stub