Orhan Gencebay

Orhan Gencebay (born Orhan Kencebay, 4 August 1944) is a Turkish musician, baglama virtuoso, composer, singer, arranger, music producer, music director, and actor. Gencebay was born in the coastal town of Samsun on 4 August 1944. He is of Crimean Tatar descent. He started learning music at the age of six, taking violin and mandolin lessons from Emin Tarakçi who was an old Classical Musician from the Ukraine Conservatoire. At the age of seven, he started playing the baglama (a traditional Turkish instrument), and continued taking traditional Turkish folk music lessons. At age ten, he created his first composition. At age 13, he started playing the tambur, an instrument often used in Turkish classical music to improve himself in the theoretical and practical details of Turkish classical music. During his high school years, he performed in Classical and Traditional Turkish Folk Music groups playing the tambur and baglama, taught music lessons in his own music courses, and took part in o