Timur Selçuk is a renowned Turkish

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 singer, pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Biography

He is a son of the legendary Turkish neo-classical music composer, Münir Nurettin Selçuk

Münir Nurettin Selçuk

Münir Nurettin Selçuk was a Turkish classical musician and tenor singer. He was one of the most revered names in Turkish music.-Biography:...

, and the elder brother of the jazz drummer and composer Selim Selçuk. He started playing piano at the age of five and gave his first concert at seven. He was educated in Galatasaray High School and Istanbul Municipality Conservatory.

Selçuk returned home after his study at the "Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris

École Normale de Musique de Paris

The École Normale de Musique de Paris is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, France. The school was founded by Auguste Mangeot and pianist Alfred Cortot in 1919...

" and became a pioneer of the political composers in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. With his chanson

Chanson

A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...

s, he repeatedly stormed the hit lists. He is the founder and the conductor of the Istanbul Chamber Orchestra. He composed a great number of music to films and theater works, and also to the poems of Nâzım Hikmet

Nazim Hikmet

Nâzım Hikmet Ran , commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet , was a Turkish poet, playwright, novelist and memoirist. He was acclaimed for the "lyrical flow of his statements"...

.

He twice participated in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

; in 1975

Eurovision Song Contest 1975

The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the contest hosted by SR and held in Stockholm, Sweden. The arena for the event was the newly built Stockholm International Fairs in Älvsjö in southern Stockholm. ABBA's victory in Brighton the previous year gave Sweden the right to host the...

, he conducted the first ever Turkish entry, "Seninle Bir Dakika

Seninle Bir Dakika

"Seninle Bir Dakika" was the Turkish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1975, held in Stockholm, Sweden. The song was sung by Semiha Yankı....

", that had been composed and arranged by others. Fourteen years later, in 1989

Eurovision Song Contest 1989

The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 6 May 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Switzerland gained the hosting rights after Celine Dion's victory in Dublin the previous year. The presenters were Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux. Riva was the winner of...

, he returned as composer, lyricist, arranger and conductor for "Bana Bana

Bana Bana

"Bana Bana" was the Turkish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed by the group Pan.Hazan Selçuk, one of the two soloists of Pan, the other being Arzu Ece, is the daughter of Timur Selçuk, who was the composer and lyricist of the song and the conductor for the entry.The song was...

", that was performed by the group Pan. One of the singers of the group was his daughter. The song finished 21st., in spite of Selçuk's spectacular way of conducting the Swiss orchestra.

Selected discography

• Timur Selçuk /3, Balet Plak, 1987
• İspanyol Meyhanesi, Balet Plak, 1988
• Bir Uzay Masalı Pop Opera, Balet Plak, 1991
• 25. Yıl, Balet Plak, 1992
• Seçkiler, Ada Müzik, 2000
• Istanbul Oda Orkestrası, Balet Plak
• Babamın Şarkıları, Balet Plak, 2003
• Abdülhamit Düşerken, Balet Plak, 2004
• Bedreddin / Timur Selçuk Tiyatro Müzikleri, Balet Plak, 2005

Filmography

• Eine Saison in Hakkari, (Turkey/Germany), 1982/1983 directed by Erden Kıral
• Vatanyolu (Die Heimreise), (Germany), 1987/1988 by Enis Günay, Rasim Konyar
• Mavi Sürgün (Das blaue Exil), (Turkey/Germany/Greece), 1992/1993 by Erden Kıral

External links

• Timur Selçuk Personal and Professional Homepage http://www.timurselcuk.net/