Mercan Erzincan, née Mercan Şimşek (1976 in Divriği, Sivas Province), is a Turkish singer of Turkish folk songs and a player of the long-necked lute (bağlama).
Life and work Mercan Erzincan was born into an Alevi family in the small Central Anatolian town of Divriği. In 1987, she began her music education studies at the Istanbul State Conservatory of Music, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1998. A year earlier, under her birth name Mercan Şimşek, she released her first album, Alican'a Ağıt, featuring bağlama and vocals, on the label ASM ("Arif Sağ Müzik"), founded by Arif Sağ. The Turkish-Alevi musician Arif Sağ (born 1945) is considered one of the most influential bağlama players of the second half of the 20th century, whose style shaped the next generation of bağlama players.Irene Markoff: Alevi Identity and Expressive Culture. In: Virginia Danielson, Dwight Reynolds, Scott Marcus (Hrsg.): The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Band 6: The Middle East. Garland, London 2001, S. 797 The bağlama is considered a symbol of religious identity for Alevis.Vgl. Rashid Epstein Adams: The Turkish Bağlama: A Sacred Symbol of Alevi Identity. In: Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology, Band 9, Nr. 1, Artikel 4, 2016, S. 41–55 Erzincan then completed a master's degree in Turkish folk music (Türk halk müziği) at Haliç University in 2005.Müge Kakşi: Mercan Erzincan Kimdir? Mercan Erzincan Kaç Yaşında ve Nereli? Onedio, 23. April 2021
Erzincan's 2006 master's thesis examines the relationship between Turkish folk songs (türkü) and their performance practice with specific musical instruments, as well as the cultural reception when musicians transfer musical genres to other instruments or into other contexts.Mercan Erzincan: Türk halk müziğinde uyarlama kavramı ve bağlamaya uyarlanan dört zeybek ezgisi üzerinde müzikal analiz. (Masterarbeit) Haliç Üniversitesi, 2006 She investigates this using the example of the West Turkish folk dance style Zeybek, which, like most Turkish folk dances, is accompanied outdoors by the conical oboe zurna and the cylindrical drum davul.Kurt Reinhard, Martin Stokes: Turkey. II. Folk music. 4. Instrumental music. In: Grove Music Online, 2001 Indoors, Zeybek dances are traditionally performed with the bağlama and the spiked fiddle kabak-kemane. Amplifier systems now make it possible to play Zeybek melodies outdoors with stringed instruments. In such cultural adaptations, Erzincan distinguishes between a “natural adaptation” (occurring spontaneously, the work retains its character) and an “artistic adaptation” (arrangement of the musical theme by a professional musician for their own instrument).Koray Ateş: Bağlama İcrasında Bir Uyarlama Alanı Olarak Klasik Türk Müziği İçerisindeki Çalgısal Formlar. In: Ayalgu Disiplinlerarası Türk Mûsikîsi Araştırmaları Dergisi, Band 1, Nr. 1, Oktober 2023
Mercan Erzincan has been married since 2000 to the musician and singer Erdal Erzincan (born 1971),Erdal Erzincan kimdir, aslen nereli? Sanatçı Erdal Erzincan kaç yaşında? Diriliş Postası, 4. Februar 2023 also a student of Arif Sağ. From 1994, she taught Turkish folk music and the saz at Sağ's music school, Erdal Erzincan Müzik Merkezi, in Istanbul. Since 2010, Erzincan has taught these subjects at the Nâzım Hikmet Academy of Music, Literature, Film, and Theatre, founded in 2009 by the Nâzım Hikmet Cultural Association in Istanbul.Nâzım Hikmet Akademisi açılıyor. NTV, 23. Juni 2009; Nazım Hikmet Akademisi yeni döneme hazırlanıyor. Sol, 2. September 2013 Erzincan also gave lectures on Alevi folk music and the tradition of the bards (aşık)Vortrag Cultural Transformation and Memory in Alevi-Bektashi Music, Indiana University Bloomington, 2016; Erdal und Mercan Erzincan: Anadolu’da Âşıklık Geleneği („Bardentradition in Anatolien“), Kapadokya Üniversitesi, Mai 2018 and produced radio (2002 Radyo Barış, 2003 Cem Radyo) and television (2007 Düzgün TV) programs on Turkish folk music.Mercan Erzincan. 7/24Dinle
The genres of Turkish folk songs that Erzincan performs include uzun hava (“long melody”), zeybek (folk dance), ağıt (lament), and deyiş (Alevi song).Mercan Erzincan – Canfeza (Albüm Teaser). Youtube-Video Mercan Erzincan performs solo and in duets with Erdal Erzincan and other bağlama players and singers in Turkey and abroad. In addition, she also gave concerts as a member of two women's ensembles that combine music and dance with a feminist approach: Sözümüz Var Şarkılarla ("Words with Songs") from 2007 and Kırk Yamalı Bohça from 2008.Anadolu’da Âşıklık Geleneği – Bezirhane Buluşmaları. Kapadokya Üniversitesi, Mai 2018 Sözümüz Var Şarkılarla is based on a research project initiated in 2005 by the musician and singer Feryal Öney within the framework of the folk music association Folklor Kulübü (BÜFK) at Istanbul's Boğaziçi University. The project aims to collect folk songs (kadın ağzı türküler) originating from women and categorize them in relation to the women's socio-cultural environment.Şirin Özgün, Ülker Uncu: Kadın Ağzı Türkülerle Kadınların Hayatına Dair: İki Gösteri. Deneyimi. In: Kültür ve Siyasette Feminist Yaklaşımlar, Band 2, Februar 2007, S. 190–203, hier S. 196
A CD compilation released in 2021 contains pieces by 36 Turkish folk musicians: Kadınlar Dünyayı Çalıyor Söylüyor ("Women Play and Sing About the World"). Erzincan's contribution is an example of Alevi folk music. As a continuation of this project, a collection of essays with the same title, edited by ethnomusicologist Özlem Doğuş Varli, was published in 2022: Kadınlar Dünyayı Çalıyor / Söylüyor Kuramsal Yaklaşımlar ve Deneyimler Üzerine ("Women Play/Sing About the World: Theoretical Approaches and Experiences"). Mercan Erzincan's essay deals with "female bards in Anatolian Alevism in the context of cultural memory and their reflection on contemporary Alevi music."Mercan Erzincan: Kültürel Bellek Bağlamında Anadolu Aleviliğinde Kadın Ozanlar ve Günümüz Alevi Müziği’ne Yansıması. In: Özlem Doğuş Varli (Hrsg.): Kadınlar Dünyayı Çalıyor Söylüyor Kuramsal Yaklaşımlar ve Deneyimler Üzerine. Zwei Bände. Doğu Kitabevi, Istanbul 2022, ISBN 978-625-7089-70-8, S. 75–90
Mercan and Erdal Erzincan have a son.
Discography Albums 1997: Alican'a Ağıt (ASM) 2002: Düslerim Yol Alir (Güvercin Müzik) 2008: Mihman (Güv(Ercin Music) 2012: "Seyir" (Iber Music) 2017: "Gökkuşağı" (Temkeş Music)
Collaboration 2014: Group: "Oyalı Yazma" with Mercan Erzincan, Devrim Kaya and Buse Katılmış: "Harran'dan Harput'a Meşk" (Kalan Music) 2021: Title 2: "Mecnuna Donmusem" from the Album: "Women Are Stealing/Singing the World" (Lavanta)
EPs 2020: "Ümit Hep Var" (Temkeş Music) 2021: "Bird Language" (Temkeş Music) 2023: "Canfeza" (Temkeş Music)
Singles (selection) 2014: Get News From My Prim 2018: I'm Offended (with Erdal Erzincan)
References
External links "Mercan Erzincan." Homepage "Who is Mercan Erzincan, how old is she, and where is she originally from? Mercan Erzincan's biography." Sabah