Message From The Chairperson
Founder of the Borusan Holding, late Asım Kocabıyık always paid heed to progressiveness, innovativeness, and entrepreneurship in work. He engraved the values that have made Borusan a leading group of Turkey in the past 80 years into the company culture and philosophy at a very early date. For him, education was the number one prerequisite to catch up with the times and, in his own words, he “felt the positive outcome of educational reforms of the Republic all his life.” As a natural consequence of the importance he attached to education, he launched the Asım Kocabıyık Culture and Education Foundation in 1992, thus lending his endeavors in this field a corporate identity. Now renamed the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation, it works across a wide range comprising education, music, and visual arts, maintaining Asım Kocabıyık’s greatest heritage.
Drawing inspiration from Asım Kocabıyık and pursuing his own love of music, Chairperson of Borusan Holding Ahmet Kocabıyık founded Borusan Sanat in 1997, with a strong belief that art is needed alongside education for any social progress, modern life, and a country that proceeds in harmony with the era. The reason he has focused on classical within the vast realm of music is that classical music speaks a universal language and has the power and depth to exceed time and boundaries and to gather people on the same platform. We continue to share the pleasing fruits of his vision with Istanbulite music lovers, and we wish to share them with the entire world.
Borusan Sanat, for which I also have happily and proudly served as the Chairperson for a period, founded the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999, and has since centered its work on the ensemble. Now, as we approach its 27th anniversary, Borusan Sanat’s success, achieved in such a short time, and the quality of works it has accomplished, has proved the aptness of our decision.
Today, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized and respected not just in Türkiye but across Europe. The distinguished position it has attained stands among the most valuable outcomes of this journey. It is a particular source of happiness and pride for us to see our orchestra, which has become an integral part of Istanbul’s cultural life, strengthen its presence across Europe through its international activities and achievements over the years.
At Borusan, thanks to our founder and father Asım Kocabıyık, we are conscious of the indispensability of education and art for an advanced society. We see it as our responsibility to provide our children and youth with a future where they can claim their fundamental rights and freedoms, where people are united, and where they can experience the positive outcome of the liberating and unifying nature of art.
Our greatest objective is to sustain the achievements of Borusan Sanat to date and to carry this journey further still. Together with our dedicated team and the music lovers whose steadfast support gives us strength, I wholeheartedly believe that we will continue on our path in the years ahead with the same conviction, enthusiasm, and determination.
Zeynep Hamedi
Chairperson
Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation
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