Meet Melis Ogut

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melis Ogut.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story pretty much began when my dad got me my first keyboard when I was six years old. A short time after that I decided to switch to playing the drums, and when I was 10, I started playing the guitar. Ever since I started playing the guitar, I knew that it would be an important part of my life, but things changed when I was around 12, 13 years old. By then I knew exactly that I wanted to pursue music as a professional carreer. At the age of 15, I started posting my playing on social platforms, and started getting recognized my important names from the local scene in my hometown, Istanbul, and later globally. A big part of that was being selected to the Gibson Generation Group, which enabled me to learn a lot more about the global music industry. I was invited to play at the Gibson Garage London, as part of the artist showcase, which was a very exciting milestone in my journey. I had my first public stage appearence at 15, being chosen by the municipality of Istanbul. Last year,at 16, we had the wonderful opporfunity to perform at the international Bozcaada Jazz Festival in Turkey with a fusion band we formed as musician friends. Now I‘m playing gigs at jazz venues in Istanbul, and looking forward for many more performance opportunities. Along with these, this year in 2026, I was selected by Berklee College of Music to receive the prestigious Arif Mardin Scholarship, from the American Turkish Society. Therefore, with this honoring scholarship I attended Berklee‘s Five Week Aspire program, which was I believe one of the most important experiences in my journey. I met amazing musicians and teachers that I hope to meet again. My academic goal in music is to study jazz composition at Berklee, so the five weeks I spent at Berklee certainly felt like I was closer to my dream.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn‘t been a smooth road, and I don‘t think it will be a smooth way thinking of this complete journey. Knowing and analyzing the challenges and acting according to them is certainly the perspective I try to embrace. Thinking of Turkey‘s financial state, funding a music education in the United States is nearly impossible. That is the reason why I work as much as I can, in order to get to the best point possible in my musicianship, and eventually to get a really decent scholarship. Another challenge for me is being a young female guitar player in the scene. Trying to break the prejudices as a young girl playing jazz guitar is unfortunately „still“ a struggle in the 21. century.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a 17 year old guitarist/ musician, and I mostly specialize in jazz. I am playing gigs in local jazz venues now, and my ultimate goal is to study jazz composition and become a part of the global jazz scene. The two major things that made me feel proud of my work were receiving the all inclusive Arif Mardin Scholarship to Berklee College of Music for the Aspire: 5 Week Music Performance Intensive Program, and being selected to be a Gibson young generation artist. These two things made me feel like my hard work is paying off, and being approved by global professionals was definitely fulfilling. Along with these, what I personally believe that sets me apart from a lot of other musicians in the industry is not aiming for a musical show off, but instead a musical experience. I mostly look out for tasteful and touching music, which creates a sonic experience in the listener‘s head. Touching the audience with beautiful music is seldom found, and I believe the musicians who can do that are special and unique.

What does success mean to you?
Success to me is a really personal thing. It definitely is not about what others think about the things you are doing, or the things you‘ve accomplished. If I achieve a short term goal, that is success. And if I acheive a long term goal, which in this sense would require years of work and experience, that is a success. And they both are pretty much the same to me, because my thought on this is if I make tomorrow succeed in my own case, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after… This means I‘m getting closer to what I set to myself that is maybe going to happen ten years after today. If I‘m at a place where I personally am happy with, and that I,myself, desire to be, that is success. It‘s certainly not mathematics, but only instinct.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melisogyt/
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@melis_ogut
• Other: Email: elifmelis2009@gmail.com

Image Credits
Burak Gunbal (1)
Gibson Garage London (1)