Mesut Özgen

The virtuosic playing of Turkish classical guitarist Mesut Ozgen has attracted attention around the globe. The first guitarist to receive the Dean's Prize, the highest honorary award presented by the Yale School of Music, Ozgen has been chosen as a soloist for several prestigious concerts including the International Paco Pena Guitar Festival in Cordoba, Spain, in 1989 and 1990. He was invited to perform the premier of Robert Beaser's composition "Shenandoah" at the Yale Guitar Competition in 1995. Two years later, he took top honors at the Portland Guitar Competition. Ozgen began studying the guitar as a pre-med student at the School of Medicine. Graduating with a medical degree in 1984, he worked as a doctor for seven years. Music continued to attract his attention. After teaching guitar at Hacettepe University and the School of Music at Gazi University from 1987 to 1991, he came to the United States to study with Benjamin Verdery at Yale University's School of Music. He received a masters degree in music in 1993 and an artist in performance diploma the following year. A D.M.A. (Doctor of Musical Arts) student at Arizona State University, expecting to graduate in 2002, Ozgun was the teaching assistant to Professor Frank Koonce from 1994 to 1998. He was awarded the Dean's Council Scholarship at Arizona State University in 1997. Since 1998, Ozgun has served on the guitar faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi