Cüneyd Kosal

He was born on November 3, 1931 in Sultanahmet, Istanbul. Cüneyd Kosal started Istanbul Faculty of Medicine and left his education unfinished because he attached too much importance to his musical life.
During his university years, he continued his musical studies as a singer in Üsküdar Musical Society, University Choir and private ensembles. When Nevzat Atlığ, the conductor of the University Choir, learned that he could play the kanun, Kosal, who became one of the instrumentalists, quit his career as a vocalist and concentrated on kanun playing.
After his military service, he worked as a clerk in the music broadcasts of Istanbul Radio.
In 1976, he worked in the establishment of the Istanbul State Classical Turkish Music Choir and took part in this choir as a member of the artistic board and instrumentalist until 1985.
After this period, he performed many instrumental works in Turkey and abroad with the “Classical Turkish Instruments Quintet”, which he founded with his instrumental friends to play unperformed works.
The artists in the quintet are Nihat Doğu (kemençe), Cüneyd Kosal (kanun), Doğan Ergin (ney), Abdi Coşkun (tanbur), Vahit Anadolu (rhythm). This ensemble worked together in Güldeste and Istanbul Music Festival events with Ahmet Özhan as the soloist.
In 1991, he worked on the establishment of the Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble, which was planned to be established by the Ministry of Culture, and continued to work as assistant general director, coach and instrumentalist until his retirement in 1996.
Cüneyd Kosal has 84 works, including 1 Mevlevi Ayini in Nişabur makam, 3 instrumental pieces, a set of compositions in Ferahnakaşiran makam, a slow semai, a walking semai, 1 Durak, 6 songs, 2 Köçekçe and 68 hymns. He has 3 books, “İlahiler” published by Yapı Kredi Bankası Publications in 1986, “Yunus İlahileri Güldestesi” published by the Ministry of Culture in 1991, and “İlahiler in 99 Makamda” published by Marifet Publications in 1994. There is a biography study about him, which was first prepared as a thesis by Sertaç Tezeren and then turned into a book with a CD supplement in 2007. Cüneyd Kosal has a very comprehensive collection of sheet music and books, which is one of the few in Turkey.