A Turkish musician who was once dubbed “the Magic Flute” by a New York Times’ music critic following a concert at Carnegie Hall is organizing an international music festival in Ankara.
Flautist Şefika Kutluer said she wanted to bring together artists and art lovers in the center of Anatolia so she decided to take advantage of her close relations with the world’s most notable orchestras and musicians to organize the 1st International Şefika Kutluer Festival.
Kutluer said that the concept behind the festival was the simple idea of ‘East and West Meet.’ “We are planning to hold the festival during the same period every year. The best known representatives of the world’s different cultures will come together in Ankara.” Accordingly, the inaugural program features performances by world-renowned musicians, and the European Union Chamber Orchestra which will perform for the first time in Ankara under the auspices of Spanish Queen Sofia.
The festival aims to develop inter-cultural dialogue through art, said Kutluer. “We aim to bring world-famous musicians of the East and the West together, commingle their cultures and highlight Turkey's role in universal culture,” she said.
Festival program
The festival will open on Sept. 23 with an exhibition titled “La musique a’Versailles.” Organized with the support of the Ankara French Culture Association, the exhibition will take visitors to the heart of the Chateau de Versailles, southwest of Paris. Icons, musical scores, old clothes and musical instruments will be on display in the exhibition at Ankara’s Arts and Sculpture Museum and will run until Oct. 14.
Also on Sept. 23 the Sinfonietta De Paris will perform the opening concert under the direction of Dominique Fanal with Kutluer scheduled to perform as soloist. This will be the group’s first performance in Ankara.
Other notable features of the program include Professor İlber Ortaylı’s conference on “The effect of European culture and art in the Ottoman,” a event scheduled to convene on Sept. 30, and the mystical Oct. 6 concert titled “From Yunus to Mevlana,” to be performed by the Hacettepe Academic Symphony Orchestra. Benefits of the concert will be sent to the flood victims of Pakistan.
UNESCO Pontes Festival for the first time in Ankara
Another highlight of the program will be Kutluer’s performance with the Virtuosi di Praga orchestra from the UNESCO Pontes Festival, conducted by Oldrich Vlcek. The performance will be the orchestra’s first appearance in Ankara and will take place on Oct. 10.
The UNESCO Pontes Festival is organized every year in European cities under UNESCO protection and aims at strengthening the relationship between people, regardless of their religion, language and race. The first UNESCO concert in Turkey took place on Oct. 6, 2008 at Istanbul’s Hagia Eireni Museum and Kutluer was the soloist.
Kutluer hopes that by inviting the Virtuosi di Praga to perform at the festival, UNESCO attention will be drawn to Ankara.
Program highlights
“Soul of the East, Authentic Concert” will perform at the Ankara festival on Oct. 16. Turkey’s world renowned percussionist Burhan Öçal will perform alongside Kutluer, interpreting the mystical and pastoral soul of Anatolia.
Theater actress Yıldız Kenter and Professor Talat Halman will make a presentation on “Turkish Shakespeare,” Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.
The European Union Chamber Orchestra was formed in 1981 and now gives up to 70 concerts annually worldwide. By bringing together individual European musicians from different EU member states, the orchestra has become a popular international cultural ambassador for the European Union, a harmonious symbol of European co-operation.
The European Union Chamber Orchestra will perform at the closing night concert on Oct. 24. Kutluer will perform the orchestra in a program featuring works by Mozart. The closing reception of the festival will be held at the same event.
Tickets for the festival are available through Biletix.
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Şefika Kutluer
As one of the most distinguished flute soloists in the world, Şefika Kutluer studied at Ankara State Conservatory and graduated with honors and awards in 1979, when she became the flautist in the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.
She is known for her special flute tone and virtuosity and has undertaken to introduce Turkish music and rhythm to the form of classical music while protecting it’s character.
Having won several international competitions and launching her truly international career as a soloist, she was awarded the Presidential Medal in Turkey, in 1985, the highest honor the country bestows on an individual.
In 1998 She became a State Artist and has also been decorated by the Italian president with Italian State Medal, Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta’ Italiana.
She has performed several concert tours, joined many International Music Festivals and has given master-classes in various countries. She has performed in the Palace of Spain in the presence of the King and the Queen and in Tokyo before Prince Mikasa.
