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Şenova Ülker (t), Neşet Ruacan (g), Ozan Musluoğlu (b), Ferit Odman (d)

Şenova Ülker started his education in trumpet at the Ankara State Conservatory in 1969 and graduated with honors from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 1979. The same year, he auditioned for the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and started to work as the first trumpetist. He currently holds the duty as the principal trumpetist. 

Ülker taught for 15 years at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts Conservatory and Istanbul University State Conservatory. He has also trained many students through private lessons. 

Besides his western classical career, Şenova Ülker is also a performer of jazz. He started his jazz performances in 1977 during his student years with a group called, “Jazz Juniors”. Also during these years, he worked on jazz theory with Emin Fındıkoğlu. Ülker has performed in many concerts and jam-sessions with many renown jazz artists such as; Billy Hart, Buster Williams, Joe Handerson, Arto Tunç, Roy Hargrove, Sammy Figueroa, John Scofield, Bendik Hofseth, Dianne Reeves and Randy Brecker. 

Ülker has worked with Önder Focan in a jazz band for many years, and in the 90’s, two albums came out of this project, titled “Erken” and “Sekiz”. In 1996, he formed the “Şenova Ülker Big Band”; conducted and performed with this orchestra for 1,5 years and has helped with the training of many young jazz musicians. 

In 1998 he joined the band, “Passaporte Latino” had a chance to perform with Cuban musicians and to learn about the music from its real sources, and together they created the album “Latin Türküler”. In the upcoming years, his frequent performances with the group increased his interest in Latin music. 

In the year 2001, Ülker performed in Selen Gülün’s album, “Just About Jazz”. The concert that he performed in as a member of the group, “Hi-Jazz” was released as a CD in 2003.
Ülker worked with Aşkın Arsunan in jazz groups that they formed together, such as “0212” and “Ethno Karma”. He performed as a soloist and also as a member of the brass group, “Kemik3” in Arsunan’s album, “One A Day” in 2004. In the same year, Ülker performed as a soloist in Sadun Aksüt’s “A Misty September Night”; Okan Ersan’s “To Whom It May Concern” and Donovon Mixon’s “The Dance of Life” albums. The next year, he played in Cengiz Baysal’s “Candy and Milkshake”. In 2007, he participated as a soloist and lead trumpetist in the album, “Istanbul Superband Plays Ömer Göksel” which was the first big band album in Turkey’s jazz history. He also performed in Önder Focan’s “Standard A La Turc” and “Swing A La Turc” albums in the same year.

Since the 70’s, Ülker has recorded in countless albums and has performed and toured with many jazz groups. He continues to participate in studio recordings and an album project for the Kemik3 Brass Section that he formed together with Aycan Tezel and Levent Altındağ. He also performs with “Istanbul Superband” – jazz music’s national team – as the solo trumpetist and a founding member.