- Improving
oneself in life takes 5 steps; goodness, honesty, working hard, knowledge and
respect. Fist 4 steps are the virtues but the last one is sacred.
- Whichever
step you have reached in life, you may learn the skills of the jug-maker only
from him.
- A piece of
art is the beautiful creation of deepest sentiments and endless knowledge
nourished by love.
- When the
light illuminates, it is responsible as much as its source and continuity.
- Justice
and right need accuracy. What you do to yourself as useful, do not do it to the
others as harmful.. **
He was born on 4’th January 1954. His father, Yahya Benekay
(1925-1997) a man of many parts, was a compositor and lyricist. His mother is a
teacher and a poet.
From the time of he was capable of thinking, Şekip Ayhan
Özışık and many other greatest Turkish musicians,
compositors who were among his father’s friends used to gather to work on
their new compositions and argue on each other’s works. While he was
growing to be a young man, his ears were filled up with their beautiful
melodies.
When he was a child at the age of three or four, he used to play his
father’s lutes made by Master Onnik and Master Manol. During summer, when
he visited Ankara
his cousin Babür Ongun used to play him guitar.
From the age of nine, for three years he performed in Istanbul Radio
Children Choir and Theater.
When he was eleven, he started his first guitar lessons from Prof.Dr.Mutlu
Torun and he studied with him on classical guitar for 3 years.
At Ankara where he went in order to give the guitars of his teacher and
Prof Dr Harun Batırbaygil who was his teacher’s friend, to be
repaired, he met Cafer Açın, the greatest luthier (wood instrument constructor)
in Turkey, who was working at Ankara State Conservatoire, which is named today
as Hacettepe University, and in years he received a lot of help related to
instrument construction. At another visit to Ankara, in the house of Mehmet Baydur, the
great playwright, who was the friend of his cousin, he listened to an album of
Sabicas and he fell in love with this music and album cover. This was the time
when he felt inside the fire of flamenco and again he started to take flamenco
guitar lessons from Mutlu Torun. In 1975, with the opportunities supplied by
Meltar Holding where he was working at those times, he went London to study flamenco guitar playing with
Juan Martin. After he returned from London,
with the guidance of his teacher Mutlu Torun, he took solfege lessons from
Muammer Sun. In his music life, his cousin Babür Ongun (he is one of the
foremost flamenco guitarists in Turkey)
and his deceased friend Savaş Çekirge have supported him in many
ways. Thanks to Savaş Çekirge, during 70’s and 80’s
while the communication means were so limited and when everything settled with
correspondence and post, he met with many publishers and record companies
abroad and searching the catalogues he started to order everything related to
flamenco guitar. Related to these materials, he also took a lot of support from
Ulvi Avşar who is the one of the foremost flamenco guitarists in Turkey. In this
way, his accumulation of years have become to be the one of the respectable libraries
in the world consisting of method books, repertoire and recordings related to guitar, either classical,
flamenco or South American and also to jazz guitar.
In 1980’s, he met Victor Monge Serranito at his first concert in Istanbul, and in the
following years at each concert he gave in the city he came together with him.
He has been influenced by Serranito’s technique and adopted his style
(eg. a-m-i picado).
Also, Savaş Çekirge who was a close friend of Jorge Cardoso,
has taught him South American special guitar techniques.
At those times, he had to dictate the notes of the pieces which were not
published and in such an effort, Ulvi Avşar and Doğan Canku have
helped him a lot.
After meeting French guitarist Alain Faucher, he met opportunities to
collect notes of flamenco guitar pieces. Alain Faucher is the most important note
writer of flamenco guitar.
In 1990 he established his group under the name Sevgi Yolcuları
(Ilgaz Benekay – Murat Özdemir – Burçin Bildik) and
performed in elite restaurants and bars in Istanbul
as Home Store, Ece Bar, Hıdiv Kasrı, Adres and Galatasaray Island
with a repertoire consisting of Gipsy Kings who was so famous at those times.
Also he has appeared in many other popular venues together with Işık
Yavuz who is the most successful Turkish singer in Latin music. Duo has interpreted
authentic Latin American songs in their own style.
He has also studied on jazz orchestration harmony under the direction of
skilled and famous jazz guitarist Rene Macaroğlu and with Nevcivan
Özel he explored Turkish music. In time they became very close with
Nevcivan Özel and taking his wife, Nevbahar Özel, they composed a
trio of guitar, tar and kemençe and interpreted Latin and flamenco music
and presented themselves only in three concerts at TRT and TRT-2 Radio
Stations.
At various dates he has performed in many TV shows in channels TRT-1,
TRT-2, Kanal-6 and Samanyolu Tv either together with his group Sevgi
Yolcuları or with the trio he gathered with Nevcivan & Nevbahar
Özel.
He has started his career as a teacher first giving private lessons and
since the foundation of Pera Güzel Sanatlar to date he only has worked as
a teacher at Pera. In these years, he learned many things related to South
American guitar from his colleague in Pera, Ricardo Moyano. At Atatürk
Kültür Merkezi scene, together with Rene Macaroğlu and Ricardo
Moyano he has given a concert and played Latin jazz standards.
In 1996, he founded Ilgaz Benekay Flamenco Group of which members
consisting of his students (Ilgaz Benekay-guitar, Altuğ Tanaltay-guitar,
Kerem Kırca-cajon, İpek Krom- baile, Elvan Özgen-baile, Funda
Yolsığmaz Sezer-cante, Ayşem Boyacıoğlu-cante) and
with this group he gave his first concert at Istek Vakfı. In time the
group was enlarged with the participation of Michael Schuldt-baile, Manuel
Reina Gomez-guitar, Işıl Reina Gomez, Metin Levent Yuna, Tuğba
Gemici-baile; Öykü Gürman-cante and violin, Özge
Kalyoncu-cante, Ata Erdoğrul-cante, Hakan Berberoğlu-cante,
Gücüm Sezer-bass guitar and performed and received praise from the
audience till the end of 1999 in various important music halls like
Atatürk Kültür Merkezi, Pera Güzel Sanatlar, Samsun 19’th
May Festival.
He has held various seminars on flamenco history and easy and healthy
guitar playing techniques at Pera Conference hall, Borusan Culture and Art Center
and Yeditepe University and his seminar program still
continues.
Starting from 2004, he has been nominated as the teacher to evaluate and
choose the successful students to be sent for the master class with a
scholarship to Amor De Dios, Madrid
which is the sister school
of Pera Güzel Sanatlar.
In the first year of this special program he joined his students and found the
chance to study with great guitarist Rafael Riqueni and Victor (El Chipi). He
made a friend of Rafael Riqueni and as they got closer as friends, Raphael
Riqueni supported him giving the scores of his piece Suit Sevilla, which he
recorded in 1992 together with Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey, as a present to him
to arrange and play in his performances. Being honoured with this present, he decided to study on the
piece and return to scene performances which he had suspended since 1999. For
this purpose, he has brought his group members together and named this new establishment
as Flamenco Bosforo (Ilgaz Benekay-guitar, Alper Kargın-guitar, Ata
Erdoğrul-cante, Öykü Gürman-cante and violin,
Ümmügülsüm Pulurtepe-cello, Asime Can
Özözer-baile, Işıl Reina -baile, Kerem Kırca-cajon,
Deniz Arat and Hakan Kamalı-musical arrangements). The aim of this group
is to present their interpretation of Raphael Riqueni’s Suit Sevilla and
their own Turkish flamenco compositions to flamenco admirers within two separate
albums and arrange concerts both in the country and abroad starting from 2006
November.
At the present, he also performs in Flamenco Group of Pera which is the own
band of Pera Güzel Sanatlar where he is also the Chairmen of the Guitar
Department.
He still continues to teach and has trained hundreds of students. Many
of his students which he had trained in the past, now continues to their music
careers as concert guitarists and guitar teachers.
His view in life relies on mottos, which belongs to his dearest Elder, stated
on top and his style of living is founded on this way of thinking.