Life of famous Turkish musician to be celebrated

Turkey is a hotbed for musical talent and artists from the European nation have produced some very distinctive sounds throughout the years.

Of course, the music scene has evolved over the past few decades and Istanbul is now famous for staging superstar international singers such as Madonna, who will play in the city this summer.

However, people taking Turkey holidays will find that the locals are still keen to celebrate their most famous historical musicians and Buhurizade Mustafa Itri is certainly a standout name.

Itri lived between 1640 and 1712 and was widely known as the master of Turkish classical music.

The anniversary of his death will be marked by Unesco in 2012 and a number of high-profile events will take place in Istanbul.

Indeed, the majority of the celebrations and commemorative performances will go ahead at the Itri Music Research Centre at the Yenikap? Mevlevi Lodge in Istanbul, while a number of documentaries about Itri will also be screened.

As an added touch, Unesco has declared 2012 "International Itri Year".