Musician Mimaroğlu passes away age 86

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

İlhan Mimaroğlu, Turkish musician and composer, dies at the age of 86.

İlhan Mimaroğlu, a famous Turkish musician and composer, as well as a member of the advisory board of the Moon and Stars Project, has died at the age of 86.

The musician, internationally known for his compositions in which he utilized electronics, was equally at home producing records for major popular and jazz artists, including many who were signed to Atlantic Records.

As an executive and in-house producer for Atlantic, he was responsible for recordings of Charles Mingus, the Modern Jazz Quartet, John Cage, Eric Salzman, Luciano Berio, İdil Biret, Meral Güneyman, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Janis Siegel and many others. 

Mimaroğlu also collaborated with Jean DuBuffet on Coucou Bazar at the Guggenheim Museum. 

Contemporary works

His own label, Finnadar, which specialized in contemporary works, was highly respected for its innovative and important recordings. Mimaroğlu both studied and taught at Columbia University and was active in the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center while also lecturing and writing widely on music.

In 2008 the Moon and Stars Project of the American Turkish Society co-sponsored a tribute to the life and work of Mimaroğlu by Güneyman, a concert pianist.