International Congress on Cultural Heritage and Music Held at Bilkent
On November 4 and 5, Bilkent University, with the participation of the First Ladies of Azerbaijan, Latvia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Turkey, hosted an International Congress on Cultural Heritage and Music. The Congress themes were peace and harmony, love for humanity, and a better future for our children. Emphasis was placed on the role of women in attaining the goals set forth in these themes, and the presence of the First Ladies was a concrete example of the importance of women's contributions to society.
Distinguished speakers and performers shared their views on the value of music and culture in achieving peace and harmony and love for one's fellow humans. The First Ladies opened the Congress with their statements. They were followed by Lorin Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic from 2002 to 2009 and currently the music director of the Palau des Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain; Valdis Muktupavels, professor of music and renowned performer of music of his native Latvia; Leonardo Balada, Catalan-born composer who is a university professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; pianist İdil Biret who spoke on music's role in building bridges among people and played a piece composed for her as a child; Svanibor Pettan, professor of musicology from Slovenia; Karl Signell, American ethnomusicologist; Julie Mathews-Aydınlı and Christopher Green of Bilkent who gave an example of cultural enrichment in high school education showing a video of Bilkent high school students visiting Berlin. The first day ended with a performance by Alim Qasimov, internationally recognized Azerbaijani singer of mugham, and his daughter Fargana.
The second day featured Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay and Nâbî Avcı, member of the Turkish National Committee for UNESCO. They were followed by pianist Gülsin Onay and conductor Gürer Aykal who spoke on Adnan Saygun's vision with examples from Saygun's works played by Ms Onay.
The morning ended with a flute recital by Ljuben Dimkaroski of Slovenia on a flute he had fashioned from a 50,000 year old bear bone as a replica of an archaeological find. A performance by the "Tanec" Ensemble of Folk Dances and Songs of Macedonia completed the session. The Congress finished Friday evening with attendance at the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Francesco Belli and featuring İdil Biret on the piano.