Melih Kibar

Melih Kibar — Biography

Melih Kibar was born on 6 September 1951 in Istanbul to a father from Trabzon and a mother from Uzunköprü; he began piano lessons at the Istanbul Municipality Conservatory at eight, attended the German High School, studied chemical engineering at Boğaziçi University and took a master's degree in Wales. In 1970 he won first prize for composition with his school orchestra at the Milliyet Inter-School Music Contest, then began working with Timur Selçuk, releasing his first compositions on Selçuk's orchestra album in 1974.

In 1975 he composed Çoban Yıldızı for Turkey's first Eurovision selection process, a song that became widely popular; that same year he met lyricist Çiğdem Talu, with whom he formed both a creative and a personal partnership, writing Gold Record hits such as Hep Böyle Kal and Söyle Canım mainly for singer Erol Evgin until Talu's death in 1983. In 1986 his song Halley, with lyrics by İlhan İrem, represented Turkey at Eurovision and finished ninth. He won the Golden Orange award for his score for the Hababam Sınıfı film series and, in 2000, an Afife Award for a stage production's music.

Kibar died in Istanbul on 7 April 2005 after a long battle with cancer, survived by his wife, Ethel, and daughter, Merve; he was buried at Nakkaştepe Cemetery following funeral prayers at Bebek Mosque.