Orchestras
Prof. Gürer Aykal
Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra Honorary Conductor
Gürer Aykal, the honourary conductor of the orchestra the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, received his musical education at the Ankara State Conservatory. He studied violin with Necdet Remzi Atak and graduated in 1963; and composition with Adnan Saygun, graduated in 1969. The same year Aykal went to London and studied at Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. During his two year stay in London he studied with a number of prominent conductors such as George Hurst and Andre Previn. Subsequently, he studied two years in Italy where he served as assistant to Franco Ferrara in the Academia of Santa Cecilia in Rome. He was designated with the “Diploma di Merito” for conducting by the Chigiana Musica Accedemia. Meanwhile, he studied Gregorian music and Renaissance polyphony with Prof. Bertolucci in Musica di Sacra in Vatican.
In 1975, Gürer Aykal was appointed as the Principal Conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. He also served as General Director of the State Opera and Ballet. Meanwhile, together with Suna Kan, he established the Ankara Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted both in Turkey and in more than one hundred concerts abroad. Gürer Aykal has also frequently performed with the leading symphonic orchestras of Europe. He conducted the English Chamber Orchestra and served as permanent conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra.
Maestro Aykal taught conducting at Indiana University and Texas Tech Universities and U.T.E.P. in the United States. He is also a professor of conducting at Bilkent University and Mimar Sinan University State Concervatory in Turkey.
He has recorded the works of a wide range of composers–Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Smetana, Ravel, Erkin and Saygun–with a number of prominent orchestras, such as the London Philharmonic, Norddeutscher Rundfunk Radiophilharmonie NDR, the Ankara Chamber Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.
In 1981, he was awarded the title of “State Artist” for his services and contributions to music.
Gürer Aykal has undertaken to establish and to develop Antalya State Symphony Orchestra, which is the youngest State Symphony Orchestra. He performed with this orchestra at Aspendos Antique Theatre to thousands of Turkish and foreign music lovers.
Between 1991 and 2003 Maestro Aykal has been the General Music Director and Principal Conductor of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra of Texas. With this orchestra he toured Germany and gave thirteen succesful concerts.
Gürer Aykal, the founder of Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and its General Music Director and Principal Conductor since 1999, became the honorary conductor of the orchestra in 2008. He was decorated with Finnish State Medal in May 2008 for his contributions to cultural cooperation between Turkey and Finland. He also was nominated as “the artist of the year” by Turkish Journalists Association in 1999 for “his successful efforts in promoting modern Turkish Republic through music both at home and abroad”. Gürer Aykal was also conferred the International Prize for the Performing Arts category by Latium between Europe and the Mediterranean on July 3, 2008. The award-giving ceremony was held in Rome at Complesso del Vittoriano.
