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Biography:
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Erhan Özdemir was born in Mersin in 1988. In 2002, he was accepted to Mersin Nevit Kodallı Anatolian Fine Arts High School, where he continued his bağlama (a Turkish stringed instrument) education with Ali Kemal Aktaş. Throughout his high school years, he participated in numerous choir and bağlama concerts; and between 2003 and 2005, he worked as a bağlama performer at TRT Çukurova Radio. In 2006, he was accepted to the Music Education Department at Abant İzzet Baysal University; during his undergraduate studies, he gave concerts in clarinet, piano, and bağlama, and actively participated in the school orchestra and choir. After completing his undergraduate studies in 2010, Özdemir worked as a master instructor teaching bağlama at the Bolu Public Education Center between 2010 and 2011.
In 2011, he began his master's degree in Turkish Music at the Institute of Social Sciences, Haliç University, and completed it with his thesis titled "The Malatya Variant of the Dede Sazı (Ruzba): Structural Characteristics and Performance Technique." During this period, he continued his bağlama (a type of lute) education with Mehmet Erenler; took lessons on regional styles, folk instruments, and Turkish folk music from Yücel Paşmakçı; and turned to ethnomusicology studies with Melih Duygulu. In his ethnomusicology studies with Melih Duygulu, Erhan Özdemir carried out extensive field research and compilation activities in different regions of Turkey. These studies, conducted in various regions such as Istanbul, Bolu, Malatya, Tunceli, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Adıyaman, Van, Şanlıurfa, and Mersin, focus on the relationship between belief and music, local music traditions, instrument making, and performance techniques. Özdemir, who served as a member and head of the compilation team in these field studies, has emphasized the documentation and understanding of local music cultures and performance practices in Turkey.
In 2012, he worked as a master instructor at the Bakırköy Public Education Center; between 2012 and 2014, he was a bağlama (Turkish lute) player in the TRT Istanbul Radio Turkish Folk Music Youth Choir. Between 2017 and 2014, he served as a folk music teacher and choir conductor at the Bakırköy Music Conservatory Foundation. Between 2017 and 2019, he taught "Modal Music," "Traditional Turkish Music," "Folk Music," and "Notation Techniques" at the General Musicology Department of the Istanbul Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory.
Özdemir completed his Proficiency in Arts at Istanbul Okan University between 2017-2022 with his thesis titled "A Semiotic Analysis of Openings Performed with the Bağlama in Long Melodies of Turkish Folk Music," served as a lecturer and Assistant Professor in the Music Department of Istanbul Okan University Conservatory between 2016-2026. During this period, he taught undergraduate courses such as "Bağlama," "Folk Music Knowledge," "Folk Music Theory and Solfège," and "Folklore," and graduate courses such as "Musical Cultures of Turkey," "Seminars," and "Makam Analysis." Following his Proficiency in Arts, Özdemir was accepted into the doctoral program in Cultural Anthropology at the Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences to deepen his academic knowledge and broaden his research interests, and continues his interdisciplinary studies within this framework.
Since 2026, she has been continuing her academic work as an Assistant Professor in the Instrumental Education Department of the Istanbul Technical University State Conservatory of Turkish Music.
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