Born in Tekirdağ, Turkey on April 15, 1945, he was the third child of Ahmet and Nuriye Taviloglu.

Istemihan entered the Istanbul Conservatory at the age of eleven began violin instruction for one year, and changed his concentration to clarinet under the direction of Tevfik Çelen.

In 1963 he transferred to Ankara State Conservatory and continued his clarinet education with Hayrullah Duygu.

In addition he also took composition from Ilhan Usmanbaş and studied Music Theory and Solfege with Muammer Sun.

After finishing the junior high in Istanbul Conservatory, he transferred to Ankara Conservatory to study Clarinet with Hayrullah Duygu, after graduating with the Honors degree he joined the Ankara State Opera as an Orchestra member.