U of M graduate wins composer of the year award

Yigit Kolat, former University of Memphis student, has been named the 2009 Tennessee Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year.

Selection for the award, which has been given out annually since 1969, "is made on the basis of excellence as a composer and contributions to the art of musical composition in the state of Tennessee," according to the TMTA website.

A $1,500 commission to compose a piece of music that will be premiered at the next TMTA conference accompanied the award. The piece will automatically be entered in the following TMTA Composer of the Year Competition.

Kolat is the eighth U of M student to win the award and the first since 1993.

Kolat received a Master of Music degree from The U of M while studying composition and piano. He is currently pursuing a doctorial degree at The University of Washington.

While at The U of M, Kolat studied with professor Kamran Ince for two years.

Ince said Kolat's music can best be described as "new classical music" or "serious concert music."

"Yigit was a very good student, very dedicated and very creative," Ince said. "It shows because he has won many other awards as well."

Kolat also placed first in the Nejat F. Eczacibasi composition contest, considered by critics to be the most prestigious composition award of his native country, Turkey.

The Izmir Foundation sets up the competition for Culture Arts and Education. According to the foundation's website, the purpose of the contest is to allow young Turkish composers to show how they can contribute to the international music culture.

Kolat started his music education in Turkey where he received his bacherlor's and master's degrees from Hacettepe University.

Kolat's works have been performed by various artists throughout the world. Some of the artists whom have played Kolat's pieces include The Argento New Music Project of Columbia University, Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Aaron Shorr of the Royal Academy of Music, the Athelas ensemble of Denmark and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey.