Born in 1967 in Mersin, Turkey. During his secondary school years he took private piano lessons from Hülya Saydam and began to compose in 1981. In 1984, he became a composition student at Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory, Istanbul, where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Erçivan Saydam, fugue, composition and modal music with Adnan Saygun, history of thinking and aesthetics with Afşar Timuçin. Following his graduation, he was appointed as an instructor in the Theory Division of the same institution. Between 1991–96 he pursued his Master’s and Qualification in Arts studies in the composition class of Ilhan Usmanbaş. Upon receiving a full scholarship from the Higher Education Council (Ankara), he studied composition with Lukas Foss and Marjorie Merryman at Boston University (1996–99). After earning his DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) degree from BU, he returned to Istanbul and began to teach composition at his native institution, MSU State Conservatory. He became an associate professor in 2001, professor of composition and the chair of Composition and Orchestral Conducting Program in 2009. He was the chair of the Composition Division at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory between 2004-09. He was also an instructor in Ayvalık International Music Academy’s (AIMA) composition workshop in 2006, and “Klasik Keyifler” composition workshop in Cappadocia, Turkey, in summer 2010.

His works has been performed in Moldavia, Turkey, Netherlands, USA, Germany, England, Australia, Morocco, Greece, Austria, Poland, Italy, Denmark, France, Portugal, Japan and Bulgaria by ensembles such as Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moskva New Music Ensemble, Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra, members of the Moldavian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s 10:10 Ensemble, ALEA III, The MIAM New Music Ensemble, Eastman School of Music Percussion Ensemble, Boston University Percussion Ensemble, Bilkent Su Trio, Boulanger Trio, Interensemble Trio, the piano trios of Storstrøms Kammerensemble and Orchestrutopica. His music has been performed in festivals and meetings such as the 3rd International New Music Festival (1993, Ankara), International Gaudeamus Music Week, 1995 (Amsterdam), Berlin-Istanbul Cultural Encounters (1998, Berlin), Istanbul Music Festival 2 (1998), musica viva (concert series of Bavarian Radio in contemporary music; 1999, Munich), Composers Rostrum (2000, Amsterdam), ECUME meetings (2001, Istanbul), Beethovenfest (2002, Bonn), International Eskisehir Music Festival (2003, 2008), Mediterranean Contemporary Music Days (2003, Istanbul), International Istanbul Music Festival (2004), Türkfest (2004, London), Sarkis: A Milestone [exhibition] (2005, Istanbul), concert series of ALEA III (2006, Boston) and the Greek Composer’s Union (2006, Athens), Istanbul Bilgi University New Music Concert Series (2007), La Turchia e le “turcherie” (2009, Lucca), Saison de la Turquie en France (2010, Strasbourg), Music Documents concert series (2010, Tokyo), Mersin International Music Festival (2010), Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (2011, Hamburg). He was a recipient of the Malloy Miller Memorial Composition Prize (1997, Boston University), the Nejat Eczacıbaşı National Composition Competition, shared 1st prize (1998, Izmir), The BMW musica viva Composition Prize, 2nd prize (1998, Munich), the Deutsche Welle Composition Prize (2002, Cologne), Sofia 2010 International Composition Competition, 1st prize (Sofia), Arioso Musica Domani International Composition Prize, 1st prize (2010, Italy-USA), Donizetti 2011 - Composer of the Year Prize (Turkey) and various academic honors in the Composition Department of Boston University (1998, 1999).

His music has been broadcasted in a variety of radio stations from the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine to Chile. His articles on music and education have appeared in several art journals in Turkey and he is the co-author of a book, Müzikte Alımlama (Reception in Music) which will be published in winter 2011. His orchestral music has been recorded for Bilkent Music Production (Ankara, 2001) and Deutsche Welle (Cologne 2002). Between 2007-2010 his solo violin, solo piano, solo harp, and percussion ensemble pieces were issued on CDs by Turkish record company Kalan Müzik.