Yaşam Hancılar - Director / Singing&Guitar

Yaşam is the director of Music For Life and he also gives singing and guitar lessons. Having trained and worked as an engineer, Yaşam discovered his passion for music – especially jazz – relatively late in his life. Eventually, passion beat out pragmatism.

In 2007, he founded his first band, Jazz Mates, in Istanbul. Thus began an impassioned musical journey that saw him perform at international music festivals and clubs, including the International Istanbul Jazz Festival, the Maastricht Jazz Festival, Nardis Jazz Club, The Badcuyp Centre for Music, Bethany's Jazz Club and more. In 2008, he participated in the fourth installment of the Nardis Jazz Vocal Competition and had the honour of representing Turkey at the eighth Nõmme Jazz Young Artists Competition in Estonia.

Yaşam completed his studies in jazz at the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music. He tours extensively with his band in the Netherlands and Turkey and recently released his second album 'Strange Fish'. He's the founder of Music For Life.