Münir Beken’s career spans theory, composition, ethnomusicology, and performance. As a composer, he has written a state-commissioned ballet suite for orchestra, won awards for film music, and scored television documentaries both domestically and internationally. His scholarly work focuses on modal theory; he is also conducting research on musical globalization and the phenomenology of music. He has published in Ethnomusicology, a premier journal in the field, and contributed to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He was one of the founding members of the State Turkish Music Ensemble.

Beken’s specialties are: world music theory; composition; modal theory; musical globalization; phenomenology of music; melodic modal systems of the Middle East and Central Asia; Turkish music; music of the Ottoman Empire.

Beken earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland. He completed his M.A. in music theory at the Technical University of Istanbul.