Yüksel Koptagel

Yüksel Koptagel
Yüksel Koptagel in 2018
Background information
Born	27 October 1931 (1931-10-27) (age 92) Istanbul, Turkey
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Composer & Performer
Instrument	Piano

Yüksel Koptagel (born 27 October 1931) is a Turkish composer and pianist. She was born in Istanbul, Turkey, granddaughter of General Osman Nuri Koptagel, a commander in the Turkish War of Independence. Her maternal great grandfather Abdul Karim Khan Tareen, a physician, had migrated from Multan, British India (now Pakistan) and had settled in Istanbul, adopting the name Abdul Karim Bey. Her father Baha Koptagel was a dentist and her mother Hikmet Koptagel was a teacher.

Yüksel was brought up in a musical environment at home. She started playing the piano with Rana Erksan at five years old. From 1948 to 1955 studied music with the composer and conductor Cemal Resit Rey and later with Alexander Tansman, José Cubiles, Tony Aubin, Joaquin Rodrigo, and Lazare Levy in Paris and Madrid. After completing her studies, Koptagel took a position with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and worked as a pianist and composer. She is considered to be the owner of the first classical guitar works composed in Turkey.

In the 1960s (during the regime of Ayub Khan Tareen (no relation)) she visited Multan to trace her maternal roots and met the descendants of siblings of Abdul Karim Tareen.

Works

Selected works include:

• Quand nous nous sommes séparés (André Viaud after George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron)
• Pastorale for piano
• Impression de Minorque for piano
• Epitafio de un muchacho muerto en abril for piano
• Toccata for piano
• Fossil Suite (Suite im alten Stil) for piano or guitar
• Tamzara (Türkischer Tanz) for piano or guitar