Murat Usanmaz
Murat Usanmaz was born in Istanbul and began learning the guitar in 1994 without formal instruction. In 2001 he entered the Guitar Department of the Istanbul University State Conservatory and graduated in 2005 from the class of Cem Kücumen. Between 2005 and 2007 he studied solo performance with composer Rafael Andia at l’Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris.
He attended masterclasses with Manuel Barrueco, David Russel, Pavel Steidl in Germany, and Costas Cotsiolis in Greece, and participated in flamenco summer schools in Spain led by Emilio Maya and Miguel Angel Cortes.
Usanmaz has performed guitar concertos including Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, A. Vivaldi’s Concerto in D major, and F. Carulli’s Concerto in A major with various orchestras and conductors. He also gave the first Turkish performance of Astor Piazzolla’s Guitar and Bandoneon Concerto.
During the “International Festival of Bosphorus”, he became the first Turkish guitarist to perform the guitar concerto of Cemal Reşit Rey.
He has appeared at the “International Akbank Art Guitar Days”, “CRR Youth Guitar Days”, “Kadıköy Classical Festival”, and at numerous universities.
As a guitarist he has taken part in various projects and concerts in China, Italy, Algeria, Germany, Turkmenistan, Finland, and at venues such as the Aya Irini Museum, İş Sanat, Borusan, Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, Nardis Jazz Club, Atatürk Culture Center, National Reassurance, Darphane-i Amire, Dungeons of Yedikule, and the Harbiye Open Air Theater.
For TRT Music he produced and hosted the programs “Worthy of Note” and “Anonymous”.
Alongside his solo activities, Usanmaz performs with the Murat Usanmaz Quintet and 3gitarİstanbul, and writes classical guitar articles for “Guitar Magazine”.
Performing at Siccas Guitars
Every classical guitarist who performs at Siccas Guitars brings a distinct musical path to the instrument — shaped by years of study, competition experience, and the particular musical tradition they have chosen to inhabit. The classical guitar demands sustained technical commitment and a deep engagement with a repertoire that spans from the Renaissance through to works written for living performers. It is an instrument whose full possibilities only reveal themselves over time.
