Emrah Kotan was born in Erzurum, Turkey on July 31, 1977. Shortly after his birth, Emrah's family relocated to the western coastal city of Izmir. From the age of 4, Emrah showed a keen interest in music and started playing the mandolin. When he was eleven, he was accepted to study at Ankara State Conservatory and was encouraged to play percussion by his instructors. Emrah studied under Philippe Garcia and was inspired by his skills in percussion and drum set. At 13, Emrah started studying under the principal timpanist of the Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Hasim Yedican, one of the best timpanists in Turkey. Emrah was formally trained in classical percussion, playing instruments like xylophone, tympani and vibraphone.

While he was performing with the school symphony orchestras, Emrah started listening to jazz and began to play along with the jazz recordings that he had.

As Emrah got older, his musical taste flourished. He started listening to everything from Chick Corea to Jimi Hendrix. He started playing in local clubs in Ankara with his first Soul/R&B band. Emrah's career started taking off with TV appearances and drum set competitions. He also played with some of Turkey's well-known singers.

Emrah wanted to come to the United States since he was 13, and after graduating from Ankara State with a Bachelor's Degree in Percussion Performance, he came to the U.S. for the first time.

Emrah saw the Georgia Tech Jazz Band perform while he was studying English there. The band instructor, Ron Mendola, invited him to play with the band, and he did. Within a year, Emrah was accepted into Georgia State University's Percussion Performance program under the instruction of Jack Bell, one of the most influential teachers Emrah has ever had. Emrah quickly decided to switch to the Jazz Studies program because he wanted to receive formal instruction in jazz. Little by little, Emrah started playing with some Atlanta-based bands, and in 2000, he was invited to play with the world-renowned Turkish pianist, Fazil Say and the Kudsi Erguner Jazz Quartet. They performed at the Montreux, Saint-Denis, Montpellier and Antip Jazz Festivals, and Emrah also had the opportunity to go back home to perform in the Istanbul and Izmir Jazz Festivals.

When he returned to the U.S., he continued his studies and played with the Georgia State Jazz Band. Being a part of the Jazz Band provided Emrah with the chance to play with some jazz greats like Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett and Tim Hagens. Emrah also started taking lessons with Sonny Emory, a great drummer and fellow GSU alumni. Later on in 2000, Emrah went on to perform at Guitar Center's Drum Off, and placed first in Georgia and 2nd in the regional finals.

In 2003, Emrah started playing with more local bands and has traveled to San Francisco, Denver, and New York to play. In May of that year, Emrah graduated from Georgia State University with a Master's Degree in Jazz Studies. He plays regularly with International Groove Conspiracy, Inobe, Club Caribe, Ear Mail, Michael Johnson and Emrah Kotan and the Sultans. International Groove Conspiracy has recently won the Future of Jazz Competition (May 2004), and has had the opportunity to play in the 27th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Atlantis Music Conference.

Currently, Emrah teaches drum set and percussion at Ken Stanton Music and applied percussion at Agnes Scott College. He has also conducted lectures and percussion workshops at Georgia State University.