Yüksel Koptagel

Yüksel Koptagel (born 27 October 1931) is a Turkish composer and pianist. She was born in Istanbul, Turkey, granddaughter of General Osman Nuri Koptagel, a commander in the Turkish War of Independence. Her maternal great grandfather Abdul Karim Khan Tareen, a physician, had migrated from Multan, British India (now Pakistan) and had settled in Istanbul, adopting the name Abdul Karim Bey.

Koptagel studied music with the composer and conductor Cemal Resit Rey and later with Alexander Tansman, José Cubiles, Tony Aubin, Joaquin Rodrigo, and Lazare Levy in Paris and Madrid. After completing her studies, Koptagel took a position with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and worked as a pianist and composer.

In the 1960s (during the regime of Ayub Khan Tareen (no relation)) she visited Multan to trace her maternal roots and met the descendants of siblings of Abdul Karim Tareen.

Selected works include:

• Quand nous nous sommes séparés (André Viaud after George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron)
• Pastorale piano solo
• Impression de Minorque piano solo
• Epitafio de un muchacho muerto en abril for piano
• Fossil Suite (Suite im alten Stil) for piano or guitar
• Tamzara (Türkischer Tanz) for guitar