Onno Tunç

Onno Tunç Օննո Թունչ
Birth name	Ohannes Tunçboyacıyan
Born	1948 Istanbul, Turkey
Died	January 14, 1996 (aged 48) Armutlu, Turkey
Genres	pop
Occupations	composer, arranger
Instruments	bass guitar, double bass, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	? – 1996

Onno Tunç (full name Ohannes Tunçboyacıyan, Armenian: Օհաննես Թունչբոյաջյան) was a leading Turkish-Armenian musician, working mainly as a composer and an arranger. Tunç also played bass guitar and occasionally double bass, contributing to the albums of several musicians. He was the elder brother of musician Arto Tunçboyacıyan.

Early years

Onno Tunç was born in 1948 in Istanbul. His music experience started with the church choir of Hayrur Mangaz (Hundred students). In his first year of middle school, he had to drop out to go to work to support his family.

Born in a financially limited family, he could not afford a musical instrument although they fascinated him, until Anush ("Sweet" in Armenian), the mother of his friend Arman bought her son a guitar, and one for Onno too. Onno, a fast-learning autodidact, started a music band and soon repaid Anush.

Career

He composed 175 songs and represented Turkey in many European music contests. A very close friend of Turkish singer Sezen Aksu, he co-wrote and composed many of the songs she performed throughout her career, as well as arranging all of her albums. It was widely known that his death tipped Sezen Aksu into depression. She dedicated her album Düş Bahçeleri to Onno (and numerous songs on virtually all of her albums since).

His symphony Su was performed by the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra.

He collaborated with Hülki Aktunç and Dağhan Baydur on the Turkish entry Sevince at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, which was performed by Nilüfer and Nazan.

Onno's younger brother Arto Tunçboyacıyan worked with him musically for 25 years. Arto is highly inspired by his brother, having dedicated numerous songs to him (and the mountain that caused Onno's accident) and an album "Onno" (1996), together with Ara Dinkjian. On performances, you can often read the letters O N N O on Arto's clothing.

Death

Onno Tunç died on January 14, 1996, when his private plane he was piloting crashed in bad weather on a mountain at Tazdağ near Selimiye village of Armutlu, Yalova on his journey from Bursa to İstanbul. Hasan Kanık, his friend aboard also died at the accident. Onno Tunç is buried in Şişli Armenian Catholic Cemetery in İstanbul. He was survived by two daughters Selin and Ayda from his first wife, Canan Ateş.

In 2002, a monument was erected in his memory at the crash site and in the city center of Yalova.^[1]

Onno Tunç tribute

In 2007, several renowned Turkish singers and pop groups came together and released a compilation album Onno Tunç Şarkıları ("Onno Tunç Songs").^[2]

References

1. ^ BÜYÜKFURAN ARMUTLU, İbrahim (2002-06-11). "Onno Tunç anıtı açıldı" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=77786. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
2. ^ "A tribute to Tunç on the anniversary of his death". Zaman. 2007-05-30. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=112591. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 

Persondata
Name	Tunc, Onno
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1948
Place of birth
Date of death	1996-01-14
Place of death