Prof. Filiz Ali, who is the head of the Musicology Department at Mimar Sinan University in İstanbul, visited Bilkent last week to give a speech on the history of music and the use of poetry as lyrics. Prof. Ali provided examples of music pieces throughout history to demonstrate how music and poetry gradually came together.

Filiz Ali first became interested in the intellectual side of music when she was a young student at Ankara State Conservatory. Later, she discovered Renaissance and Middle Age music while studying in the U.S. Filiz Ali went on to produce radio programs on music for many years in Ankara, and wrote newspaper articles, which she subsequently collected together for publication. She later returned to school to continue her education at King's College in England and received a degree in musicology.

Prof. Filiz Ali is one of the few scholars of musicology in Turkey. Degree holders in the field have a number of professional options, such as pursuing an academic career, writing articles and books on music, or performing research. She says, "Musicology is a relatively new field and might not attract too much attention. However, considering the history and culture of Turkey, there are many areas in music still to be researched. To study musicology, professional training in music is not a must; instead, amateur musical training is sufficient when combined with an interest in social history."