Pelin Başar

Born in Istanbul in 1983, Pelin Başar-Sezgin began studying the ney at the age of 13 at the Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music State Conservatory, under the guidance of master ney player (neyzen) Salih Bilgin. In 2003, she entered the Composition Department of the same conservatory, where she studied Ottoman classical music and the modal system (makam), alongside Western music composition and writing techniques. In 2007, she became a ney soloist with the National Choir of Turkish Classical Music of the Ministry of Culture, where she remained a member for sixteen years.

As a ney player and vocalist, she has performed in numerous concerts and productions in Turkey and internationally. Beyond traditional and Ottoman repertoire, she has also collaborated with several opera and ballet companies in Turkey, exploring a wide range of musical contexts. In 2014, she took part in Anjelika Akbar’s Bach Alla Turca project, which was presented in Beijing and Shanghai.

In 2016, she joined the Mehmet Polat Trio for a tour of the United States and Canada, performing at venues and institutions including the Aga Khan Museum, Lincoln Center, Dakota Jazz Club, Corazon Performing Arts, The Mint, Harris Center, the Berkeley Jazzschool, and the University of Richmond.

Based in France since 2016, she has developed a variety of artistic projects while continuing her international performing career. She holds a Master’s degree in Musicology from the University of Tours, where her research, supervised by Talia Bachir-Loopuyt, focused on the Anne-Marie Touzard archival collection held at CPFI – Musiques du Monde in Le Mans.

Alongside her artistic career, she is actively involved in music education and transmission. She teaches ney, Ottoman vocal repertoire, modal music theory (makam), interpretation, and instrumental and vocal improvisation. She has taught at CPFI, the Yunus Emre Institute in Paris, and the École Nationale de Musique de Villeurbanne.