Erol Parlak

Erol Parlak was born in 1964, in Eleskirt, Agri province,and received his elementary and middle schooling in Ankara. In 1982, he entered the State Conservatory of Istanbul Technic University. After finishing his studies in 1986, continued there for four years as a teacher. In 1987 he began studies at the ITU's Social Sciences institute, and completed his Master's degree, with a thesis on the "Bozlak" genre of folk music. In 1988, he auditioned for Turkish Radio Istanbul and was accepted with the title of "accomplished artist". After serving in this position for ten years, he resigned, and was again accepted in 1992 into the ITU Social Sciences Institute, where he went on to earn his Doctor of Arts degree in 1998, with a thesis on “The Tradition of Hand-Playing (Pickless) Baglama Techniques in Turkey.”. Researching the subject of "baglama playing techniques, saz and vocal styles, he collected nearly a thousand folk melodies. He worked with several masters such as Ramazan Güngör and Nesimi Çimen on the subject of "hand-playing [pickless] baglama technique" ("selpe"), which was on the verge of being forgotten in Anatolia, in order to bring it back into practice and develop it further. In his research chiefly in western and southwest Anatolia, he concentrated especially on the fundamental similarities between Anatolian and Central Asian music.

In 1995, he, Arif Sag and Erdal Erzincan, formed a baglama trio and gave concerts in various cities around the world. Among these are a concert with the accompaniment of the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra, and later, in the Berlin and Strasbourg Philharmonic Concert Halls, which were received enthusiastically. During the same period, he and Erdal Erzincan performed as a duo in the Netherlands and Belgium, under the umbrella of the "Picked Instruments Festival" taking place in various parts of Turkey. On June 10 2003, he performed on the international stage at Amiens, France, and on June 12, 2003, performed a solo concert one of the world's major ethnic music halls, the "Theatre de la Ville" in Paris.

In early 2000, he performed in a number of concerts both at home and abroad, as well as television and radio programs, with the “Erol Parlak Baglama Quintet,” a group he formed together with four of his students. The groups first album, “Esik,” was released in 2004. Since the 1990s, he has participated in a great number of concerts, seminars, workshops etc., in private schools as well as universities and conservatories in Europe and around the world..He has made six albums, one with Arif Sag and Erdal Erzincan, one with the Baglama Quintet, three solo albums with vocals and one instrumental solo album, in which he interprets works of several important Anatolian artists, from Neset Ertas to Davut Sulari.

He is also the author of the books, "Hand- (pickless) Playing Tradition and Playing Techniques in Turkey", published by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, and "Selpe (Hand-Playing for Baglama) Technique Method I", published in 2001 by Ekin Publishing, and "Selpe (Hand-Playing for Baglama) Technique Method II," published in 2004 by Alfa Publishing. His latest work, "Bozlaklar" is soon to be published.

In his work, Erol Parlak has always emphazised the cultural richness of Anatolia, with an attitude based the universality of humanity and expressing man's cultural diversity. As a productive artist taking part in several national and international projects, he works tirelessly to convey the richness of the Anatolian spirit and culture to people the world over. He continues to serve as an instructor in the Art and Design Department of Yildiz Technical University.