Barış Youth Symphony Orchestra (, literally: Peace Children Symphony Orchestra) is a

youth orchestra A youth orchestra is an orchestra made of Youth, young musicians, typically ranging from pre-teens or teenagers to those of Music school, conservatory age. Depending on the age range and selectiveness, they may serve different purposes. Orchest ...

founded at

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey in 2015. The orchestra has nearly one hundred members. Various classic music artists have joined the orchestra for its concerts.

History

Turkish soprano Selmin Öney Günöz was inspired by the

El Sistema El Sistema (which translates to The System) is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu.Lesniak It later adopted the motto " ...

free music education program in Venezuela. She launched the Barış Youth Symphony Orchestra project in 2015 to provide free music education to children with limited opportunities living in troubled neighborhoods in

. The program aims to keep children away from violence, crime, and addiction. The initial children were provided with 20 violins with the support of volunteers. The first concert took place accompanied by the concert pianist

Gülsin Onay Gülsin Onay (born 12 September 1954) is a Turkish classical pianist. She lives in Cambridge, England. Education Born into a musical family, Gülsin Onay began to play the piano at the age of three. Her first teacher was her mother. When she ...

. With the concert revenue, more music instruments were purchased, and the number of children in training increased to 60. In 2017, Öney Günöz founded the "Barış Çocuk Orkestrası Koruma ve Geliştirme Derneği" () which manages grant money, instrument maintenance, and acquisition of new instruments. The glass processing company Yorglass began sponsoring the orchestra in 2018, with the orchestra taking name "Yorglass Barış Youth Symphony Orchestra". As of May 2022, 98 children played in the orchestra's concerts, and around 50 more were enrolled in music education. Most of the applicants to enter the orchestra are girls.

Orchestra

The orchestra has given concerts with musicians including the flutist Ayla Caymaz, the Ümit Bulut Choir, drummer Burhan Öçal, Savaş Özkök, and the young concert pianist Can Çakmur. They have also done concerts with the concert pianist

İdil Biret İdil Biret (born 21 November 1941) is a Turkish concert pianist. Education Biret began her lessons at the age of five with Mithat Fenmen, who had studied under Nadia Boulanger and Alfred Cortot. When she was seven, the Turkish parliament ena ...

and conductors Howard Griffiths and

Gürer Aykal Gürer Aykal (born May 22, 1942) is a Turkish conductor and adjunct professor at Bilkent University. He has been the musical director and principal conductor of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra since 1999. Education Aykal was born ...

. Their concerts are held at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Center in

Konak, İzmir Konak is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 24 km2, and its population is 332,277 (2022). It is the most densely populated of the thirty districts of İzmir, and has historically acted as t ...

. The children in the orchestra are aged between 7 and 17. They train and practice twice a week in the center at Eşrefpaşa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baris Youth Symphony Orchestra Turkish symphony orchestras European youth orchestras Music education in Turkey Musical groups established in 2015 2015 establishments in Turkey Youth in Turkey Classical music in Turkey Culture in İzmir