Dear Friends and Music Lovers,
As one of the leading educational
institutions in Turkey, Hacettepe University Ankara State
Conservatory aims at distinguishing itself with its international
artistic events of high caliber.
In accordance
with this goal and as first steps, two major international musical
symposiums and festivals were realized successfully by our team:
The International Chopin Symposium in 2010 and The International
Liszt Festival and Symposium in 2011.
These were marked as the first
ever major international musical events of the Conservatory since
its founding 78 years ago. The International Liszt Festival and
Symposium draw an international attention and received many
positive critics as well as having international press coverage.
Encouraged with the inspiring successes of
these two major past events, starting up of a new international
musical event came to my mind: The International Bartok Music
Festival and Symposium.
World famous Hungarian composer Bela Bartok
is one of the most important composers of 20th Century. He has
been an important musical figure in our country well known for his
collaboration with our own Ahmet Adnan Saygun and the research he
made on Turkish folk music. Together, they tried to bring to
surface (the hidden gems of Anatolian folk music) what was lying
hidden in Anatolia as folk melody.
He helped start a Turkish Folk Music
Archive at Ankara State Conservatory and his studies in Anatolia,
titled “Turkish Music from Asia Minor” was published in 1976 by
Hungarian Science Academy.
Commemorating this famous composer with a
festival, on the 70th anniversary of his death, was the least I
could do to say thank you for his great service to music at large
and the music in Turkey.
This important event will enrich the
musical scene in Ankara and help improve greatly the cultural ties
between Hungary and Turkey. With so many world renowned artists
and scholars planning to come and participate, It will create a
priceless learning environment for our students and create
opportunities for our faculty members to collaborate and exchange
ideas and create new ties with international musical scene.
As the head of the festival and as a
musician myself, I am looking forward to this exciting musical
event.
Prof. Yeşim Alkaya Yener
Head and Artistic Director of The
International Bartok Music Festival and Symposium
Hacettepe University Ankara State
Conservatory
