Ergican Saydam

Ergican Saydam — Biography

Ergican Saydam (March 28, 1929 – December 21, 2009) was a Turkish pianist and piano pedagogue born into a family of musicians in Istanbul. He began studying piano with his older brother Erçivan Saydam before training under Friedrich von Statzer at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory, while also completing a law degree at Istanbul University. Between 1955 and 1959 he furthered his pianistic studies under Friedrich Wührer at the Munich Hochschule für Musik.

Saydam gave more than 2,000 concerts across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa, becoming the first Turkish pianist to tour extensively in Latin America. A dedicated advocate of Turkish composers such as Cemal Reşit Rey, Ahmed Adnan Saygun, Cengiz Tanç and İlhan Usmanbaş, he premiered and recorded their works, including the 1981 premiere of Rey's piano concerto with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra under the composer's baton. He oversaw classical music broadcasting at TRT for 25 years, taught for many years at the Istanbul Conservatory, and was made professor in 1986.

He married pianist Ayla Saydam, who had been his student and later his longtime assistant, and the couple had a daughter, the singer Ezgi Saydam.