Mehmet Polat was born in Sanliurfa city in Turkey in 1981. He started music with the Turkish folk instrument "baglama" when he was 5 years old. From beginning that age, he practiced Turkish Alevi music and traditional...
Mehmet Polat was born in Sanliurfa city in Turkey in 1981. He started music with the Turkish folk instrument "baglama" when he was 5 years old. From beginning that age, he practiced Turkish Alevi music and traditional folk music from Urfa in traditional way. After the age of 17, he moved to Istanbul, and started to Classical Turkish music and ud studying from Sharif Muhittin Haydar Targan's method. After Targan's method, Mehmet started researching advanced techniques on the ud. With a long process of research and practise, he developed his first version of a new left hand technique on the ud, that was influenced by violin and cello techniques. With his own practice & researches he studied Classical Turkish and Classical Western music for 4 years in bachelor programme of Yildiz Technical University, Art institution. Beside his study and own research, he met some ud masters he had never got regularly/continounsly ud lessons.
Besides of the benefits of the high technical possibilities, he was able to try different styles on the ud with his new technic. As his ever ongoing researches will always be continuing, he had some influences of Turkish folk, Arabic, Azerbaijan, Persian, Flamenco and Jazz in his ud playing. By saving traditional value and sound of ud, Mehmet Polat was decisive to break-down the technical limits of the ud, he tried out on ud some of Niccolo Paganini's caprices and transcribed them which were technically impossible. He played the 5th and 17th caprices which is the first time Paganini's Caprices are played on the Ud which are possible to be searched&see on Youtube.
Mehmet Polat is interested in Indian music and practicing Indian music on the Ud, by generating some new techniques to being able to play Indian embellishments. He is graduated Rotterdam Conservatory(CODARTS); Master of North Indian music, with the thesis “A combination between Indian Ragas and Turkish makams” by the supervising of German musicolog Martin Greve. He studied Raga lessons at Codarts with Henri Tournier and Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Marianne Svasek, Ted de Jong. Besieds Indian music, he also got Flamenco lessons from Ricardo Mendeville.
By autumn of 2007, he has started a new music life by moving to the Netherlands. Since then, he is living in Amsterdam, doing self projects, attending ensembles, playing for concerts and teaching. Besides his projects he works&plays with Theo Loevendie, Laurens van Rooyen, Netherlands Blazers ensemble, conducts to Rotterdam Classical Turkish music choir(Rotterdam). Among his network of Dutch music society, he played in the most prestigious concert halls in Holland: Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw, De Doelen, De Spiegel, Philarmonie, Dr Anton Philipsezaal, Vredenburg and many others.
