Orchestra conductor speaks about his career

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Famed orchestra conductor Gürer Aykal shares his experiences about being a conductor in Turkey.

“Being a conductor in Turkey” was the title of a talk given by orchestra conductor Gürer Aykalat the headquarters of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Ankara May 21.

Everyone should stand up for what they believe in, Aykal said. “And every orchestra conductor should put [his or her] convictions into their conducting,” he said.

The potential to learn is always very high in an orchestra, and an orchestra is a divine group, Aykal said.
Aykal said he left the Presidential Symphony Orchestra because of a drummer, and that those were very hard days for him to overcome.

“Every member of the orchestra has to play as the conductor shows [them to].” A conductor should work with his body, hands and eyes at the same time, Aykal said, adding that it is also very important for a conductor to communicate with the audience.

Aykal has conducted the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks Hamburg, the Ankara Chamber Orchestra (which he founded together with Suna Kan), and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. ,

In 1975 Aykal became the principal conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Ankara.

Aykal also talked about his experiences as music director of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra in Texas from 1987 to 1991.