İlhan Sami Özulu

Biography

 

İlhan Sami Özulu is currently celebrating his 44th year anniversary in music. He was born and raised in İstanbul, Turkey and started his music education in 1966 at İstanbul Municipal Conservatory of Music when he was at middle school. After his graduation from Kültür Koleji, in 1972, he enrolled at the University of İstanbul’s School of Economics. At the same time, he started to play guitar and violin at various hotels, nightclubs and casinos in İstanbul and participated in several tours in Europe and all around Turkey.

İlhan formed his first band, “Evrim Folk Dörtlüsü”, with his brother İhsan in 1970, and recorded the first single record in 1971. In 1973 they changed their band’s name to “Evrim 5″, and recorded their second single with lyrics by Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan, and Esmeray featured on lead vocal. With the success of this single, “Evrim 5″ hit the charts on HEY Music Magazine’s Top 50 list for 16 consecutive weeks. İlhan İrem later joined the group as a lead singer. Among his many other accomplishments, İlhan received the TRT Best Composer Music Award in 1979, competing with 413 other composers.

In 1978, İlhan was the leader of the professional well-known band “Grup Evrim.” Between 1978 and 1981, he played viola at “Kültür Bakanlığı Devlet Klasik Türk Muziği Korosu” until he had to serve for the Turkish Armed Forces at General Staff Headquarters in Ankara as a Second Lieutenant. After completion of his military service, he rejoined his band “Grup Evrim.” At the same time, İlhan was also the Music Director of the Turkic World Research Foundation Music Ensemble, toured Europe several times.

With his undergraduate degree in music, İlhan started working at İstanbul Municipal Conservatory of Music, later known as University of İstanbul State Conservatory, as both an academician and a performer on the viola and guitar, between 1983 and 1992. He received a Masters degree in 1991, and following with a Ph.D. in Radio/TV Broadcasting from the University of İstanbul, in 1995.

İlhan, his wife Deniz and daughter İpek, moved to Washington, D.C. on July 19, 1992 and started working for the Voice of America as an International Radio Broadcaster. His son Evrim Kaan was born in Virginia, in 1996. After working a short period of time at the Turkish Embassy, İlhan changed his career to Information Technology, and currently working as a Software Configuration Manager. İlhan received 5 Associate degrees and 5 certificates in Information Technology from Northern Virginia Community College in 2002 and 2004, and his second masters degree in E-Commerce from George Mason University in 2007.

Even though he changed his daytime career, Dr. Özulu still plays all kinds of Turkish and international music in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area and the East Coast. He established and directed Turkish Music Choir in 2001, and supported Turkish Folklore Troupe of Washington, DC. He also performs at Turkish Festivals around the United States.