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Biography:
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Erdem Şimşek was born in Ankara in 1984 and began playing the bağlama at an early age, inspired by his grandfather, the minstrel Âşık Süleyman Koçak. He received his initial musical training from his uncle Hüseyin Koçak. At the age of nine, he began studying bağlama and music notation with İhsan Öztürk, and later continued his studies in traditional bağlama performance techniques and music theory with Okan Murat Öztürk. In 2000, he joined the TRT Turkish Folk Music Youth Choir, and between 2003 and 2016 performed in the ensembles of numerous music programs broadcast by TRT, including Bergüzar, Dem Bu Dem, Katre, Yediveren. Since 2003, he has performed extensively in Türkiye and abroad with the Bengi Bağlama Trio. He also developed his musical practice through a long-term master-apprentice master-apprentice relationship with Musa Eroğlu, focusing on Turkish folk music repertoire and bağlama performance traditions.
Şimşek graduated from the Department of Geological Engineering at Middle East Technical University in 2007. During the same period, he continued his musical activities within the METU Folklore Club (THBT), where he also worked as a bağlama instructor. In 2009, he completed his master’s degree in Ethnomusicology at the Center for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM) at Istanbul Technical University. Between 2009 and 2015, he worked there as a research assistant; from 2016 to 2023, he served as a lecturer in the Department of Instrument Education at the Turkish Music State Conservatory of ITU. In 2022, he completed his PhD in Musicology and Music Theory at Istanbul Technical University with a dissertation titled “The Change Process of Bağlama Performance Practice in the Context of Authenticity Construction: Tradition, Invention, Conflict, Revival”.
In addition to his performances with the Bengi Bağlama Trio, Lâl Bağlama Trio, and Hitit Ensemble, Şimşek has taken part in numerous national and international concert and recording projects and has given many solo recitals. He has led international workshops and taught as a guest instructor in the undergraduate “Global Music” program at Popakademie Baden-Württemberg. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras and ensembles including the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Dresden Sinfoniker, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Trickster Orchestra, and Hezarfen Ensemble. He has also performed in numerous symphonic concerts as part of Zülfü Livaneli’s Sevdalım Hayat project and, in 2023, performed as a soloist with voice and bağlama in the bozlak opera Binboğalar Efsanesi, composed by Michael Ellison.
Alongside his work in traditional bağlama performance, Şimşek has also explored innovative approaches to the instrument. He continues to work on the “Herdem Düzeni,” a tuning system he developed for the four-string bağlama. In 2025, he was awarded the 29th Troy Culture and Arts Award in the field of Turkish folk music. He currently serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Instrument Education at the Turkish Music State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University. He is married and has one daughter.
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