Cengiz Özkan

Cengiz Özkan — Biography

Cengiz Özkan was born on 10 October 1967 in Divriği, Sivas; after schooling in Istanbul he entered Istanbul Technical University's Turkish Music State Conservatory instrument programme in 1980 and completed a master's in Turkish folk music at the same university's Institute of Social Sciences in 1991, then spent years teaching and performing at his own conservatory, İzmit Municipal Conservatory and Istanbul University State Conservatory, and still gives a master class at Bahçeşehir University Conservatory. A saz performer at TRT Istanbul Radio since 1989, he worked there alongside figures such as Turan Engin, Ali Ekber Çiçek, Tuncer İnan and Nida Tüfekçi, and released solo albums including Kırmızı Buğday, Ah İstanbul, Saklarım Gözümde Güzelliğini, Gelin and Hayâlmest on the Kalan Müzik label, plus the Yâre Dokunma albums made with Muharrem Temiz. He contributed music to the series Kurtlar Vadisi and Söz, played an imprisoned bard in the 2007 series Pusat, and served on the jury of TRT 1's Sen Türkülerini Söyle in 2023. Married and the father of two, he headlined a landmark concert with Erdal Erzincan at Tüpraş Stadium in September 2025, the first time folk songs had echoed through a stadium that way, before performing in Karasu in January 2026 and dedicating a March programme to the songs of Âşık Veysel.