When audiences settle in tonight at the Music Center at Strathmore to hear Sezen Aksu sing, they will be experiencing an evening with who critics call the queen of pop music in Turkey.
“She is loved and respected not only for her lovely 23 albums but also the 550 songs she has composed for almost every single pop singer in Turkish pop music history,” said Serol Agazat, her United States promoter and manager. “She’s been a mentor, a teacher and a total inspiration to many artists and individuals.”
Turkish pianist, composer and arranger Fahir Atakoglu will accompany Aksu.
“In our musical journey, we wrote songs together,” Atakoglu said. “Sezen Aksu wrote lyrics to my melodies that have become hits in Turkey and all over Europe.”
Sezen Aksu was born Fatima Sezen Yildirim in 1954. In addition to the nickname “Queen of Turkish Pop,” she also has been called “Minik Serce,” which means “Little Sparrow.”
Her tiny appearance is about all that is little. Onstage, or in a recording studio, she has cut a larger-than-life path since her debut in 1975. In Turkey and all through Europe, Aksu has collaborated with Turkish stars such as Hande Yener and Sebnem Ferah. She is also the first female Turkish artist to compose and perform her own music. Her music is often very social, addressing universal causes we all embrace. She writes songs, she says, “that we all feel in our hearts.”
She is here now, on the Strathmore stage, for American audiences to discover.
If you go
Sezen Aksu
Where: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Info: 301-581-5100; strathmore.org
“As her promoter in [the] USA, her shows [are] always on top of our priority list and we are very happy to provide those events to our audiences throughout the USA,” Agazat said. “There are people coming to the shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland from all parts of USA — even from Canada [and] Hawaii — and this makes us pretty happy.” Those who perform with her often are overwhelmed.
“In my career I have shared the stage with her many times; and for me every time has been a great honor and a musical privilege to play for her,” Atakoglu said.
