Barbaros Erköse was born in Bursa, in 1936. His father was the ud player for famous Turkish singer Hafiz Burhan. He started playing the clarinet at the age of nine and started to attend the classes of Saffet Gündeger. In Ankara he played before the plays in the Sen Theatre where Ismail Dümbüllü was working too. After five years in that theatre, he passed the entrance exams for the State Radio of Ankara. He came to play for a performance in Istanbul and stayed to work for the State Radio of Istanbul. He accompanied many famous Turkish singers like Zeki Müren and Nesrin Sipahi. He also played for the albums of famous jazz players like Anvar Brahem, Craig Harris and Peter Pannke. He took stage with many foreign musicians, in many festivals all around the world.

Barbaros Erköse belongs to a Turkish family of musicians who won international fame through their unique repertory of Roman music. It includes not only the manifold musical traditions of Anatolia but also all those countries which were part of the erstwhile Ottoman Empire - Greece, the Near East, the Balkan, and Azerbeidjan. The Erköse Brothers are among the most outstanding and versatile musicians of Istanbul - you may find them in classical concerts as well as in cabarets, recording at the radio station or jamming with jazz musicians. Barbaros Erköse is also pursuing his own solo career, has the solo album called Atlantic and touring the world for multi-cultural projects like the album he has made with Craig Harris and the Nation of Imagination called Istanbul released by Doublemoon Records.