Born in Tunceli Eastern Anatolia in 1962, Adil Arslan first became acquainted with the bağlama at the age of six. Soon after first plucking the three stringed instrument with a long neck, the love of his life and his career as a child musician began to unfold.

After moving to Berlin in 1979, the bağlama virtuoso, composer and singer Adil Arslan began developing a unique style of his own. Between 1982 and 1987 he performed for various European radio and television programs. In 1985 began the collaboration with Carlo Domeniconi, the Italian guitar virtuoso and composer, who shared his vision of fusing the best in the East with the best in the West. Inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s cycle of poems with the same title, Adil Arslan recorded an album on the bağlama accompanied by a full orchestra, entitled West-östlicher Divan. This album was released by CPR (Creative Partner Records) in Germany and by ART (Anatolien Radio and Television) in Turkey in 1986. In 1987, on the occasion of Berlin’s 750th anniversary celebration, Adil Arslan and Carlo Domeniconi gave solo performances at the world premiere of a double concert for bağlama, guitar and chamber orchestra at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall. Composed by Carlo Domeniconi, Concerto di Berlinbul was conducted by Prof. W. Thaerichen and accompanied by the Berlin Sibelius Chamber Orchestra. In a concert for Berlin’s Academy of the Arts dedicated to traditional Turkish music, Adil Arslan lectured on the idiosyncrasies of bağlama as a Turkish musical instrument. Concerto di Berlinbul was repeated at the Bellevue Palace in the presence of German President, Richard von Weizsaecker. The concert was received with great interest leading to successive performances in many other European cities with different orchestras.

Finally, Concerto di Berlinbul was recorded in Ankara with a guitar solo by Carlo Domneiconi and a bağlama solo by Adil Arslan, accompanied by the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra Ankara (CSO) under the direction of Gürer Aykal and recorded as a CD by Raks wich was released in 1993. While teaching in various music schools in Berlin since 1981, Adil Arslan has continued to be an interpreter of folk music, although his primary influence is western classical music. Arslan’s work is driven by the conviction that only a synthesis of Eastern and Western elements can begin to bridge the gap between these two worlds.

In 1992 Adil Arslan presented Üryan to the public, a new album with his own compositions. He founded the deutsch-türkische Musikakademie and currently gives performances in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, thus furthering the intercultural dialogue.

DISKOGRAPHIE:

1986
West-Östlicher Divan LP/CD/MC | CPR/ART/ADA Plak

1992
Üryan CD/MC | CPR/ADA Plak

1993
Concorto di Berlinbul CD | RAKS