A new 70-member orchestra at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University brings Turkish classical and folk instruments together with Western instruments, with university faculty and students forming the core ensemble. The orchestra includes MGU lecturers, research assistants and students, plus academics and students from other Ankara universities.
According to turkiyetoday.com, MGU Rector Prof. Gulcin Yahya Kacar said Western instruments serve mainly bass and accompaniment roles while Turkish instruments carry the melody. University academics prepared the arrangements, which use written bass parts and counterpoint rather than Western-style polyphony.
The repertoire includes folk songs, Balkan and Crimean melodies, instrumental works and pieces by Kacar. Conductor Prof. Dr. Selcuk Ozturk, a clarinetist and faculty member, said earlier ensembles existed at the university but this is the first orchestra formed at this scope.
The first concert is scheduled for Oct. 8 at the university’s Yunus Emre Sevgi Meydani, featuring eight works in roughly 30 minutes. Students from Palet Turk Muzigi Ilkokulu, a primary school, will open the program to create intergenerational dialogue. Kacar said the university aims to perform abroad in Europe, the Turkic world, the Balkans and the Middle East.
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