Mujdat Akgun has rapidly evolved from a guitarist to one of Turkey's
most acclaimed film music composers. A pioneer in composing original
music for Turkish movies and TV serials, Mr. Akgun is known for his
exceptionally memorable themes. Mujdat Akgun was born in
Bursa, Turkey. Having been fascinated by music at a very young age, he
started playing the mandolin at 5 years old. Shortly afterwards, he
added the piano to his instrumental portfolio. Finally at the age of
14, he learned to play the guitar - the instrument he went on to
master. In 1966 he set up his first orchestra. Composed of four
youngsters - at drums and solo, rhythm and bass guitars - it won the
first place prize among the Bursa region's amateur orchestras. Soon
afterwords, he captured the attention of the musical community through
the success of his compositions for high school musical competitions.
Upon completing high school in Bursa in 1968, he entered the University
of Istanbul's prestigious Capa Medical School. Throughout his education
to become a Medical Doctor, music was continually a cornerstone in his
life. During his mandatory military service in Ankara in 1973 he met
Alpay, who was one of Turkey's most popular singers at the time. This
was the birth of a great musical team. Mujdat's composition and lyrics
together with Alpay's vocals became an instant success. Within three
months, they released two singles. After completing his military service
Mujdat moved back to Istanbul - the heart of the Turkish music industry
- where he became a producer for Yonca Music International. At the same
time he continued composing and orchestrating for several popular
singers. In 1975, Mujdat Akgun and Alpay released an album named "Guven
Parki". With Mujdat at composition and Alpay at vocals, the lyrics were
three pages and the song was twelve minutes long. Mujdat continued
composing music with a trio named 'Zafer, Banu, Hulya' - a famous group
of the time. With Mujdat's compositions, lyrics and orchestral
arrangements, they released a single and an LP. Soon afterwords, in
1976, Mujdat moved to Ankara in order to work more closely and
efficiently with Alpay. During the sixteen years that they worked
together, Mujdat composed, arranged and wrote lyrics for more than
forty five songs. In addition to this, he directed the orchestral
organization in plenty of Alpay's hits, including Ayrilik Ruzgari,
Hayalimdeki Resim, Sensizligimin Sarkisi and Yanimda Kal. At the time
Ankara did not have sufficiently sophisticated musical studios for
Mujdat and Alpay. Consequently, they had to travel frequently to
Istanbul for recording sessions. In order to avoid this, in 1978 they
setup a professional recording studio in Ankara. Mujdat's sound
engineering career had begun. While excelling in his career, in 1980
Mujdat became a film music composer for TRT (Turkish Radio Television)
- Turkey's largest media group at the time. Throughout the early 1980's
he composed for several popular TV series of the time. This portfolio
included Alcaktan Ucan Guvercin, Aganta Burina Burinata, Kacaklar,
Yusuf ile Zuleyha, Mardin - Munih Hatti, Hanimin Ciftligi, Gece Yarisi
Vurgunu, Aile Baglari and Yalnizlar. Beginning from 1986, Mujdat
concentrated on creating music for documentary serials; namely Suyla
gelen Kultur, Firat'in Turkusu, Kecenin Teri, Divandan Sandalyeye, Orta
Asyadan Esintiler, Tepedeki Yelkenli, and Kila Kirk Hayat. At the end
of 1987 he became the musical director of the first and second series
of Sesame Street. This was a particularly challenging task because the
Turkish music had to preserve the authenticity, facility with children
and the educational meanings of the original Sesame Street songs.
Mujdat personally adapted the lyrics into Turkish. It took twenty State
Opera Ballet artists and 12 TRT Children's Choir singers a total of
three years to accomplish this task.
