Arifa

Born in Urfa and raised in an environment of Alevi Sufism and Anatolian folk music. After studying Turkish and Arabic classical music, first in Urfa and later in Istanbul, he developed a new approach to playing the Ud...

Born in Urfa and raised in an environment of Alevi Sufism and Anatolian folk music. After studying Turkish and Arabic classical music, first in Urfa and later in Istanbul, he developed a new approach to playing the Ud. In 2007 Mehmet moved to the Netherlands for Master studies in Indian music at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Mehmet worked as a composer and soloist with prestigious musicians and orchestras as: Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Metropole Orchestra, The Black Pencil Project, played world première performances of Theo Loevendie and Maarten Altena. Performed as a soloist in several prestigious concert-halls in the Netherlands and abroad like Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw and Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Ataturk Culture Centre (Istanbul), Cemal Resit Rey (Istanbul), Middle east, Latin America and many others. Mehmet Polat is co-founder member of the quartet Arifa.