TURHAN YÜKSELER

Born: 1952 or 1953, Istanbul (Turkey)

Nationality: Turkish

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

 

At 4 years old, Turhan Yükseler started studying at the Istanbul Municipality Conservatoire. From 1970 onwards, he has been a professional musician, playing the piano in a string of bands as well as working as an arranger for many different artists. He has more than 700 compositions and arrangements to his credit and worked on almost 100 different albums. In the 2000s, he released solo albums, including ‘Eurasia’. He leads his Turhan Yükseler Band, which plays all genres, ranging from ABBA, Earth Wind & Fire, and The Beatles to Turkish classics.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Turhan Yükseler conducted for Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions. In 1988, he led the orchestra for M.F.Ö. during their performance of ‘Sufi (Hey ya hey)’, which finished 15th; the arrangement was written by Jurre Haanstra from the Netherlands. 

Three years later, in 1991, Turkey was represented by the trio Izel Çeliköz, Reyhan Karaca, and Can Uğurluer with a twist called ‘Iki dakika’. Yükseler arranged the song in collaboration with composer Şevket Uğurluer and conducted the Italian orchestra. This Turkish entry finished in 12th place.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1988 Dublin

Country – Turkey

Song title – “Sufi (Hey ya hey)”

Rendition – M.F.Ö. (Mazhar Alanson / Fuat Guner / Özkan Uğur)

Lyrics – Mazhar Alanson

Composition – Mazhar Alanson / Fuat Güner / Özkan Uğur

Studio arrangement – Albert Boekholt / Jurre Haanstra

Live orchestration – Turhan Yükseler / Jurre Haanstra

Conductor – Turhan Yükseler

Score – 15th place (37 votes)

1991 Rome

Country – Turkey

Song title – “İki Dakika”

Rendition – Izel Çeliköz / Reyhan Karaca / Can Uğurluer

Lyrics – Aysel Gürel

Composition – Sevket Uğurluer

Studio arrangement – Sevket Uğurluer / Turhan Yükseler

(studio orchestra conducted by Turhan Yükseler)

Live orchestration – Turhan Yükseler

Conductor – Turhan Yükseler

Score – 12th place (44 votes)