Top 5 Ney Artists in The World

When we look at our neyzen history, it is seen that Mevlevi and Mevlana are a milestone. Our first known neyzens begin with Mevlana. Serneyzenlik or neyzens is a position appointed by Celebi, who is the head and teacher of the neyzens in the Mutrip committees of the Mevlevihanes, which is more than the other instruments. Kutb-ı nâyîlik maqam is a title given to powerful neyzens who have reached great levels in neyzen playing and who have an extraordinary command of the ney and body. The first known kutb-ı nâyî is Hamza Dede, who was the neyzen master of Mevlana. So who are the world's most famous ney artists?

Who Is Called Neyzen? Top 5 Ney Artists

The word neyzen means "the person who plays the ney". Although it means ney performance, it has a somewhat richer meaning in terms of mysticism. According to Sufism, anything that blows a ney is not a neyzen. Neyzen is the person who breathes the ney and gives life to the reed. Here top 5 ney artists!

1. Neyzen Ömer Bildik

Ömer Bildik, who started his studies at Afyon Kocatepe University Classical Turkish Music Ensemble, was appointed as a lecturer at Afyon Kocatepe University State Conservatory in 2000. In 2002, he took part as the Ney Player in the CD "Sufi Music FromTurkey", produced by the British ARC music company, and this CD was offered for sale in 72 countries. He took part as a Ney artist in the "Dede Efendi" CD published by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

2. Neyzen Süleyman Erguner

He became a neyzen at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory Turkish Music Executive Committee in 1978. He graduated from Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music State Conservatory (1979). In 1975, he took part in Istanbul Radio as a neyzen. He became a ney player the In addition to his teaching career at the conservatory, he continued to work as the conductor of the neyzen and Sufi Music and Classical Turkish Music choirs of TRT Istanbul Radio. He took place as the founder and executive officer of the Istanbul Mevlevi Committee, which was established in 1980. He established the Mevlevi committee in 1996.

3. Mercan Dede

Arkın Ilıcalı (Mercan Dede) immigrated to Canada in 1997. Mercan Dede, who completed his undergraduate and graduate studies on fine arts in Canada, took a break from his teaching career at the same university a short time ago due to the emphasis on music studies. Mercan Dede lives in Montreal, Canada, and in Istanbul, continuing his musical studies in Europe, Canada, the USA, and Turkey with various Sufi groups since then, the artist studied world music with Professor David Kaplan at The University of Saskatchewan.

4. Ömer Faruk Tekbilek

Tekbilek's musical genius showed itself at a young age. According to his parents, he and his older brother were born musicians. “He was my inspiration and pride,” he says of his older brother. Although Ömer Faruk Tekbilek started to master Ney, he was also interested in many different instruments. His first teacher started giving baglama lessons to him in exchange for helping him at the music shop. Also, thanks to this shop, he learned many mixed rhythms of Turkish music, makams, and how to read them.

5. Kudsi Erguner

Neyzen Kudsi Erguner, born on February 4, 1952, gained an international reputation with his concerts and CDs on Classical Ottoman and Sufi music for many years and added a universal dimension to our traditional music. The main instrument of Turkish Sufi music is the ney. He is the only artist trained by Ulvi Erguner, the last representative of the "Erguner school". In the city of Paris, where he settled since 1973, he studied architecture and musicology as well as music studies and completed his doctorate studies on both subjects.

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