COMPOSERS AND PERFORMERS

AHMED IRSOY

Ahmed Irsoy (1869-1943) was the son of one of the greatest scholars and master composers of Turkish classical music, Hafiz Mehmed Zekâî Dede, and his wife Fatma Hanim. Ahmed Efendi was born in 1869 in the Cedîd Ali Pasa neighborhood in the Fatih district of Istanbul. In 1914, he became head instructor of the musical division of the Darü'l-Bedayî, of the Istanbul munipality. Two years later, the musical division of the Darü'l-Bedayî was eliminated, and upon the foundation of the Darü'l-Elhan (Conservatory) in 1916, he was appointed head instructor. He composed nearly 300 works.