Who is artist Ahmet Say, how old is he and where is he from?

Ahmet Say (Born in 1935, Kadıköy, Istanbul – Died May 10, 2022), Turkish music writer and critic.

He is one of the few music writers in Turkey. Music books were taught as basic works in the music departments of universities. He is the father of Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say. Apart from music books, there are literary works that are deemed worthy of various awards.

in Istanbul in 1935, KadıköyHe was born in His father was Fazıl Say, a well-known mathematician of the time, and his mother was Nüzhet Say, a philosophy teacher. He started piano lessons at a young age. He studied at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory in 1946-1950. He studied theory and solfege with Demirhan Altuğ, piano with Verda Ün and harmony with Raşit Abed. He left his conservatory education when he went to high school. He graduated from Istanbul Erkek High School. In 1954, he went to Germany to receive media education and lived there for six years. During these years, he showed interest in musicology with the encouragement of musicologist Kurt Köhler, where he stayed at home as a boarder. 

After completing his education in Germany and returning to Turkey, he worked as a teacher, public educator and folklorist in Bingöl for three years. During this period, he compiled folk songs, laments and fairy tales, established folk dance ensembles and raised children's ensembles. With the encouragement of Orhan Kemal, he wrote his impressions of Bingöl. His work, Bingöl Stories, emerged as a product of this period. TRT Awards Short Story Competition Achievement Award.

He settled in Ankara in 1964. In 1967, he was appointed as the editor-in-chief of the journal Türk Solu. He was imprisoned for 12 months during the March 7 coup d'état. After he was released from prison, he wrote the novel Kocakurt. His novel was awarded the Milliyet Novel Award. Kocakurt and Bingöl Stories were published by Milliyet Publishing. With his short stories, he won the first prize in the 1974 Sabahattin Ali Story Contest, opened by Yeni Adımlar Magazine, and Honorable Mention in the Antalya Film Festival Short Story Contest.

Beginning in 1974, he turned to music education and music publishing. In 1977, he published a monthly magazine called Türkiye Yazıları with Cemal Süreya, Vecihi Timuroğlu, Ragıp Gelencik, Demir Özlü, Ali Püsküllüoğlu. He founded Say Publishing in 1978.

Beginning in 1980, he devoted himself entirely to music writing. He founded Music Encyclopedia Publishing in 1985.^[2] Music Encyclopedia, Music Dictionary, Music Teaching, Music Book, What is Music and What Kind of an Art is some of the music books he published.

Ahmet Say, one of the founding members of the Association of Letters, served as the chairman of this association for two years. He institutionalized the Association of Letters Honor Award Gold Medal, which is given to masters of literature.

Ahmet Say wrote a column titled "Our Orbital" in the daily newspaper Evrensel.

Death

On May 10, 2022, Fazıl Say, the son of Ahmet Say, announced on his Twitter account that his father passed away. His body is in Ankara Karşıyaka He was buried in the Cemetery.

Awards

• TRT Awards Short Story Competition Achievement Award (1970, short story Kamil's Horse)
• First Prize (1974) in the Sabahattin Ali Story Contest opened by Yeni Steps Magazine,
• Antalya Film Festival Short Story Competition Honorable Mention
• Her novel Kocakurt was among the products worth printing in the 1975 Milliyet Publishing Novel Competition.
• 28th Ankara International Film Festival “Art Sycamore Award”
• In 2020, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) presented the 48th Istanbul Music Festival Honorary Award to music publisher and writer Ahmet Say. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the honorary award was presented to Ahmet Say by İKSV officials at his home. Ahmet Say's speech about the award was broadcast at the opening concert of IKSV on September 18, 2020.

literary works

• Kocakurt (novel, 1976): This first work of Ahmet Say won an award in the competition of the newspaper Milliyet. It tells the adventure of the advertiser and partier Koca Kurt and the bar girl Züleyha between 1960-1970. Universal Print Release
• Bingol Stories (stories, 1980)
• The Cat Riding the Ipek Carpet Upside Down (epic story, 1982): It is known as the first "epic story" in our literature. It was translated into German and published in Berlin. It tells the story of a fraudulent merchant in the language of the traditional starting rhyme of Turkish tales. Universal Print Release
• From the Place of the Sun (stories, 1988): The work, which was published by Milliyet Publishing under the name Bingol Stories in 1980, was published by Can Publishing in 1988 and finally by Evrensel Basım Yayın with the title "From the Place of the Sun Swinging".
• What is Music, What Kind of Art Is It? (Art Theory) Ahmet Say explained the basic minimum knowledge of the art of music in a simple and understandable language that everyone can benefit from, as a folk book. 2008 Universal Edition Release
• The compilation titled Mozart (In Memory of Mozart) was prepared by Evrensel Basım Yayın on the occasion of the 250th birthday of the great composer (2007) with an international understanding.
• Trees were in Flowers (Memory Biography 2011) Ahmet Say reminds us of the political events of recent history while telling his memories. Universal Print Release
• Bingöl Stories (From Where The Sun Whispers) book has been published in Zazaki by Evrensel Basım Yayın with the name of Ca Yo Ke Tij Ti Ra Bena. (2013)
• Mankind People (Memoir – Autobiography, 2016)

music books

• Music Encyclopedia: It is a basic work consisting of 4 volumes.
• Teaching Music (1996): It is a compilation prepared for music teachers.
• Music History (1994): It is Turkey's first comprehensive study of music history.
• The Music Makers in Turkey (1995): It is a foreign promotional book prepared in English. The Turkish edition is titled Music Atlas of Turkey. It was presented to readers in 1998.
• The Book of Music (2000): This book filled the gap felt in the field of music theory.
• Music Dictionary (2002): This 600-page dictionary is considered as an important contribution from the field of music to the development of Turkish as a "cultural language".
• Music Encyclopedia: It is a work consisting of 3 volumes, 2072 pages, ten thousand articles and three thousand pictures.
• Music Writings (2007): It is a 319-page work written to produce solutions to basic music problems.