Tenor Ömer Türkmenoğlu, a fourth year student at the FMPA, Department of Music, was placed fourth in the Second International Singing and Opera Competition, organized in Azerbaijan.
The 12-day long opera competition, which took place between September 18 and September 30, had 80 international entrants. Ömer received an award of a plaque for his outstanding performance.
Ömer was the youngest entrant in the competition. He said "I was very nervous during the competition; I had worked for three months and stayed in Azerbaijan for one month. For myself, the most important thing was to feel the atmosphere of the competition, to win was a secondary consideration."
"Also, one of the nicest memories of my performance in Azerbaijan was to receive acknowledgement from the audience. I was paid the best compliment of my life by a lady in the audience who said she throughly enjoyed my singing and it made me feel blissfully happy," said Ömer.
Ömer suggests that all students should enter such competitions as students can both gain experience, and it can turn out to be, as in Ömer's case, a memorable and professionally- fullfilling occasion. For Ömer, to have felt the excitement of the competition was a wonderful experience.
