Osman Yurdal Tokcan was born in Ordu, Turkey in 1966, and graduated in 1987 from the ITU State School of Art for Turkish Music. As well as pursuing his master studies, he lectured on the oud from 1989 to 1997. In 1990 he became the oud player for the Istanbul Turkish Music Ensemble of the Ministry of Culture under Necdet Yasar. He also performs in a number of other music groups in Istanbul, and has performed many times in Europe and Asia. Yurdal Tokcan recently participated in the International Oud Meeting.