Pannon Philharmonic

Erol Erdinc started out studying composition with A. Adnan Saygun and piano with T. Cetiz at the Ankara State Conservatory. After graduating in composition he stayed on at the Conservatory to teach, while also working as pianist for the Ankara State Opera and Ballet. Six years later in 1975 he went to Paris where he studied conducting under renowned artists such as Jean Martinon at the Paris Conservatory and Pierre Dervaux at the Ecole Normal de Musique de Paris; composition with Nadia Boulanger, Pierre Petit and accompaniment with Pierre Pontier. He also participated in master classes given by Pierre Boulez and Kirill Kondrashin.
Returning to his country in 1980, Erol Erdinc conducted at the Ankara State Opera and Ballet until 1983, then he moved on to conduct with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, which gives about 64 performances a season, in response to strong public demand.
Beside the regular concert season, Maestro Erdinc has taken the Istanbul Symphony all over Turkey and they together have given many concerts in Europe as well. His ability to excel within the varied formats of opera, ballet and symphonic repertoire has led to an impressive number of international engagements. Widely acclaimed by critics, he has made guest appearances in France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Russia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Mexico, USA, Spain, Poland, Brazil and Argentina.
As an educator he has taught at the Istanbul University Conservatory, where he developed remarkable pedagogic work .After spending time at Bilkent University as Dean of the Music Faculty, Erol Erdinç moved on to be member of the board of the Ankara State Conservatory, which was founded by P. Hindemith and continues to be a center of excellence in Turkey. There he created and leads the Haceteppe Symphony Orchestra that has greatly contributed to the musical life of the city. He was also invited as guest Professor to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the Porto State Music Faculty in Portugal and the Londrina Festival in Brazil.
Erol Erdinç has served as a jury member several times in many prestigious international competitions, including the Canada International Music Competition and the Enescu Conductors Competition in Romania. Great communicator, at the beginning of his career he worked producing music on the television network. Years later in 1991 he created his own TV programme on TRT 2, the State Cultural Channel, where different aspects of music were approached.
As a composer and orchestrator, he has written numerous works for orchestra, choir, symphonic jazz orchestra and music for children, integrating traditional Turkish modal music, popular styles, jazz and creating his own musical language.
His concerts as a chamber pianist have taken him all over the world so has his passion for jazz. While he was still a student at the Conservatory, he started to play piano solo in different formations. Many years late he introduced the Symphonic Jazz Music to Turkey, through the "Spring Concerts" with the Istanbul State Symphony. In 2010, after creating the Jazz Department of the Hacettepe University State Conservatory in Ankara, he has recently formed his own jazz quintet, where traditional Turkish instruments add a very distinct twist to the classical piano, drums, bass trio.
Erol Erdinc was an artistic advisor to the Ministry of Culture for 3 years and was later appointed by the Turkish Government with the title of "State Artist", an award given to honour only the most distinguished artists in his country.  
In 2011, Erol Erdinç was named General Director of Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture, as well as Music Director of the prestigious Ankara Presidential Symphony Orchestra, the oldest music institution in Turkey.