Hikmet Şimşek, one of the Republican-era musicians, conducted Bilkent Symphony Orchestra for the Republic Day Concert last week.
The concert hall was at full capacity, with standing room only for some of the audience. Şimşek, at 76, has seen the growth of the new Republic, and shared his memories of the 10th anniversary, in 1933, and how the celebrations had lasted all night. He spoke of how Atatürk had entrusted the new Republic to the young; and then invited İbrahim Yazıcı, the young Choir Master, to conduct the Chorus for 10. Yİl Marşı (the 10th Year Anniversary Anthem). The energetic young musician received great applause after the performance so Şimşek asked Yazıcı to perform an encore. This time, Şimşek also invited everybody to join in the singing. The audience, standing and singing, celebrated the 77th anniversary, and the applause continued long after the performance had finished.
In conducting the concert, Şimşek also celebrated the 45th year of his career as a musician of the new Republic. Besides conducting many orchestras, Şimşek has worked on various projects such as setting up symphony orchestras (Bursa, Çukurova, İzmir) and establishing conservatories (in Anadolu, Ankara, Çukurova Universities) and promoted numerous concerts featuring Turkish compositions to as many as 60 cities and towns in Turkey.
