İzmir State Symphony Orchestra

Beginning as a chamber ensemble and growing into a full symphonic body, the İzmir State Symphony Orchestra was formally established in 1975 under Hikmet Şimşek, with the violinist Tuncer Olcay as its founding director. Some ninety players now hold permanent places in it under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and its regular platform is the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Centre, named for the composer whose oratorio "Yunus Emre" did much to define a Turkish symphonic voice. Cemal Reşit Rey and Gürer Aykal have stood in front of it; Montserrat Caballé and Fazıl Say have sung and played with it. Its remit reaches well beyond the city, concerts and educational programmes carrying the orchestra through the Aegean provinces and inland into Anatolia.