Erkan Aki

Erkan Aki (born June 20, 1969 in Sursee) is a Swiss cross-over singer between pop music and classics with Turkish descent.

After attending a performance of Johann Strauss’ operetta "Die Fledermaus" at the Zurich Opera House, he decided to study classical singing.

The radiant elegance of this all-encompassing work of art which combines sophisticated operetta with the visual dazzle of architectural splendor left a lasting impression on young Erkan.

Up to that point, his musical preferences had been more along the lines of contemporary sounds, e.g. the band Eurythmics and their lead singer Annie Lennox whose voice made a huge impression on Aki.

Erkan happened to make a studio recording with Atilla Sereftug, the composer of Grand Prix d‘Eurovision 1988 winning song "Ne partez pas sans moi" made world-famous by Céline Dion.

Until he was eleven years old, this Swiss with a Turkish background spent his childhood close to his native town of Willisau, a small-sized tourist attraction famous to this day for its international Jazz Festival.

His close affinity to Germany and the German-speaking countries and the fact that he had more success here than elsewhere were the main reasons behind Erkan’s decision to record his following album "Zeit der großen Gefühle" (Time of Deep Emotions) only in German.

He recorded several titles for this album with international stars like Xavier Naidoo and Patricia Kaas, including the Maffay classic "Über sieben Brücken musst du gehen".