Baktagir started his music career at the early age of eight. He attended the State Conservatory of Turkish Music and received his master's degree from the same school. He has composed over 140 songs, mostly instrumental pieces in classical forms of Turkish music, and many of his compositions are in the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation's (TRT) repertoire, performed at concerts aired on the TRT radio and television stations.
In addition Baktagir has played at a huge number of jazz, new age and traditional music festivals. Since 1984, apart from being one of the best kanun virtuosos in Turkey in terms of classical performance, his special left-hand technique that he developed himself has made him a brand among the performers of this instrument.

With an ever-active life as one of the most important living composers of instrumental pieces in Turkish classical music and a virtuoso performer of the kanun, Baktagir has released "Hayal Gibi 3 -- Aşk Masalı" (Like a Fantasy 3 -- Fairy Tale of Love) as the third installment in his Hayal Gibi series. This project has attracted quite a lot of interest from Baktagir's audiences both in Turkey and abroad since the first "Hayal Gibi" album was released in 2001. It was a concert series that was later transformed into an album.

The good thing about Baktagir's albums is that they have something like a "unity in diversity" that art enthusiasts are always on the lookout for. For example, when you hear Baktagir playing renditions of classical instrumental pieces in an album like "Café İstanbul," he plays it in such a funky manner that you begin dancing before you even know it. The next album you would hear from him would be his own classical pieces played in a chamber orchestra manner with a traditional ensemble. His "Okyanustan Sesler" (Sounds from the Ocean) is synonymous with its name: the aquatic sound of kanun puts forward the possibilities of this instrument stretched beyond its finitude: like a Stephan Micus but with a traditional instrument instead of handmade ones.

The originality or the concept of the Hayal Gibi series with respect to Baktagir's other albums is the use of Western instruments alongside traditional Turkish instruments, as well as a contemporary approach to orchestration. A composer who himself knows Turkish music theory inside out, when it is Baktagir who uses Western instruments in the arrangements of his original compositions, you lend an ear to the harmony he creates to find out his perspective about how to blend these two separate traditions. Songs such as "Gülru," "Boş Kumsal" (The Empty Beach) and "Yaz Aşkı" (Summer Love), with their catchy melodies, capture one's senses. "Kar Tanem" (My Snowflake), a song he composed for his daughter, and Aşk Masalı (The Fairy Tale of Love), which he both composed and performed with his son, have been among my favorites.

In this album Baktagir is accompanied by Baki Kemancı on violin, Özer Arkun on cello, Serhan Yasdıman on guitar and Yurdal Tokcan on oud, as well as the ensemble İstanbul Sazendeleri -- of which Baktagir is a member. İstanbul Sazendeleri (İstanbul instrumentalists ensemble) has been serving as the performing band of the İstanbul Municipality, and many important musicians are members of the ensemble. Their monthly concerts at cultural centers such as Altunizade or Tarık Zafer Tunaya are a definite "not-to-be-missed" activity if you are a Turkish classical music fan.

"Hayal Gibi 3," with the excellence of the musicians' performances and the beautiful sentiments of Baktagir's compositions, is an album that brings tranquility and peace to every atmosphere in which it is played. (Göksel Baktagir, "Hayal Gibi 3 -- Aşk Masalı," Akustik Müzik, 2008)

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