Talip Özkan died

Thursday, 27 May, Talip Özkan, the first artistic director of the Turkish music programme at Rotterdam Conservatoire, died in the age of 71 years in his home in Izmir, Turkey.

Born at the 2nd of August 1939 in Denizli, Talip Özkan became musical director at radio stations first in Ankara, later in Izmir. He travelled throughout Anatolia to collect folk music and became famous as a Baglama player. In 1976 he left Turkey moving to Paris where he made his PhD in ethnomusicology. At the same time he gave concerts all over Europe and produced records in his own distinctive style, enriching the Baglama tradition with new playing techniques and tunings. In 2000 he became the first artistic director of the Turkish music programme at Rotterdam Conservatoire, the first Turkish music education programme outside of Turkey, where he continued until his retirement in 2004.
The music world lost one of the greatest masters of the Baglama.