Okan Ersan
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Okan Ersan is a Turkish Cypriot guitarist. He was born on April 27, 1972 in Nicosia, Cyprus, and started to play the guitar and piano at a very young age. Since he came from a musician family (his father is a musician), he chose music as a first job.
Ersan , not only followed his wide range of music in the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but also carried on in Turkey, Germany, United States and the United Kingdom and began working as a composer. He then released his first album , `To Whom It May Concern`.
Ersan, achieved his degree in music from the Marmara University Atatüurk Music Academy in 1994 and specialized as a guitar player in Istanbul, Marmara Music Academy. Through his academic education Ersan was very much influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach, Chick Corea, Mike Stern, Frank Gambale, Robben Ford, Scott Henderson, Ritchie Blackmore and many other Classic, Jazz, Classic Rock, Fusion, Blues musicians which led him to produce his own style which is toady based on jazz fusion.
He started his teaching carrier in 1996 and he is still teaching at Anafartalar High School in Girne (Greek: Kyrenia).
In 2000 he moved to London, where he gave guitar lessons and song writing workshops at EC 1 Music Project music school, and also gave orchestra lessons at White Lion Youth Centre.
In 2001 he returned to Northern Cyprus and worked with various bands. As of June 2005, he is playing with Okan Ersan & The Vintage Band on Fridays and Saturdays at Sinema Nostalji Bar in the Turkish part of Nicosia.
During his time in Northern Cyprus he played in more than 20 pop singer albums. In 2003 he produced the album 'Acar Akalin Project' in Northern Cyprus. He also gave many concerts in on the southern part of Cyprus under the name of Okans Theraphy.
Ersan believes that music is his only way to truly live his sadness and happiness in life therefore, has dedicated himself to his guitar and nature which helps him reach, reflect his deeper feelings and conflicts.
`To whom it may concern` the song which titles his first album, led him to take his place among The best five guitarists of the year 2003 with the British magazine `Guitarist`, at the The Best Guitarist Of The Year competition in England.
Ersan, was invited to the U.S. as the guest guitarist to the Kansas City Jazz Festival and performed with Billy Paul and Michael Brown. This gave him the opportunity to share his own songs in the USA.
Ersan still lives in Northern Cyprus where he is now concentrating on his concerts and the presentation of his album.
Some Concerts & Performances -“Guitarist of the year Competition” Performance Birmingham England -Famagusta Jazz Festival -EMU Jazz Festival -Near East U jazz Concert -Rocks Jazz Festival with Billy Paul -Rock Jazz Concert with Album Band -Erlangen Jazz Concert in Germany -Washington Press Club Concert in USA -Kansas City Jazz Festival in USA
Work with Billy Paul (Grammy Award), Kevin Lyons, Shirley Lites, Nick Steinhouse, David Ordhume, Tony Jones, Michael Brown, Andreas Georgiou, Torsten Goods, Nicolas Robertson, Don Chirieleison, Lee-sa Dawn Robinson, Spanky, Imer Demirer, Ilker Ozalp, Sibel Gursoy, Eylem Pelit, Volkan Öktem, Levent Altındağ, Cengiz Baysal, Yahya Dai, Kamil Erdem, Serdar Barçın, Serkan Özyılmaz, Şenova Ülker, Burak Bedikyan , Elvan Aracı, Melis Sökmen,Soner Ersen ect…. Jam Session with Roseanna Vitro, Joe Elefante, Dean Johnson, Tim Horner, Danny Lerman, Fatih Erkoç, Nedim Nalbantoğlu ect…
His hobbies include watching movies and drawing.
Okan ERSAN Official Website : http://www.okanersan.com/
