Oruç Güvenç (1948 - July 5, 2017) was a Turkish
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
master, musician, music therapist, ethnomusicologist and a poet. Widely considered as one of the most influential figures in Turkish music, Güvenç authored many classical Turkish and Sufi compositions.
Biography
Güvenç was born in 1948 in
Tavşanlı
Tavşanlı is a town and district of Kütahya Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.
Tavşanlı is a typical Aegean town where a government-owned coal mine company attracted thousands of settlers from surrounding cities and villages which mad ...
district of
Kütahya
Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate) ...
. He was the second child of Ahmet Kamil Güvenç and Urkiye Güvenç. He completed his primary and secondary education in İstiklal Primary School and Tavşanlı Secondary School. After completing his high school education at Kütahya High School, Güvenç studied philosophy and graduated from
Istanbul University
, image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg
, image_size = 200px
, latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis
, motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü
, mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future
, established = 1453 1846 1933
...
. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine and became an expert on music therapy. Later, he founded the Center for Research and Application of Turkish Music at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty. Güvenç started his music life by taking violin lessons from Fethi Bey while he was in secondary school. During his university years he learned to play oud, rebab, ney and drum. In 1975, he founded TÜMATA, an organisation to study and promote Turkish Music. Güvenç taught at Istanbul University and, from 1991 to 1996, served as the head of the university's Music Ethnology, Research and Music Therapy department. He was awarded an honorary professorship by Fergana University in 1992. In the same year, he was also honoured by the Argentine Academia de las Naciones. Oruç Güvenç passed away on 5 July 2017 in
İstanbul. He was buried in Karacaahmet Cemetery.
Works
Oruç Güvenç authored two books and many compositions.
Albums
* Ocean of Remembrance (1995)
* Rivers of One (1997)
Books
* Music Therapy: Hüseyin Makam
* The Beloved of Allah - Hazret Mevlana
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Güvenç, Oruç
1948 births
2017 deaths
Turkish Sufis
20th-century Turkish male musicians
21st-century Turkish male musicians
Burials at Karacaahmet Cemetery