Yurdal Tokcan

Yurdal Tokcan (b. 1966 in Ordu on the Black Sea coast of Turkey) is a Turkish oud player, guitarist, and composer. He is a 1998 graduate of Istanbul Technical University's Turkish Music Government Conservatory. While completing his masters degree there, he joined the faculty as an oud instructor. Tokcan continues to teach, sharing his knowledge, experience, and technique with Turkish and foreign students. In 1990, he joined the Culture and Tourism Ministry's Istanbul Government Music Ensemble under the artistic direction of Tanburi Necdet Yaşar. As a member of this ensemble, Yurdal performed in France, Holland, Belgium, and Spain. He is a member of the Istanbul Fasil Ensemble and the Istanbul Tasavvuf Music Ensemble, and a founding member of the Istanbul Sazendeleri (Musicians of Istanbul), a group dedicated to presenting Turkish instrumental works. Tokcan has participated in many recording sessions and has performed internationally, in Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Japan, Turkmenistan, Israel, Tunisia, Lebanon, the USA, Bosnia, and Northern Cyprus. His style combines older traditions with many new stylistic innovations, which are also present in his playing of the fretless guitar. His many new compositions combine traditional rich melodies with polyphonic textures, performed on Turkish classical instruments. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.