Anatolian Sun to rise over Forbidden City

Turkish music group Anadolu Güneşi (Anatolian Sun), which combines Turkey's folk music with universal styles, has been invited to perform in China. The ensemble will perform during the 29th International Society for Music Education, or ISME, World Conference in Beijing in August.

Anadolu Güneşi, founded in 2003 by musicians from Abant İzzet Baysal University and the State Opera and Ballet, will perform during the conference at four venues including the Forbidden City Hall.

Associate Professor Uğur Alpagut, violinist of the ensemble, said the group would showcase Turkish folk music at the conference of ISME, a worldwide network for music education and learning, which is expected to host 2,000 people from 80 countries.

Alpagut said the ensemble brings together authentic values with universal instruments, techniques and modern methods. “One of the most important features of Anadolu Güneşi is that it create a synthesis of Turkish folk music and universal style without distorting authenticity or the essence of local melodies.”

Alpagut said the ensemble, which is made up of artists from Abant İzzet Baysal University and the Ankara State Opera and Ballet, has made good contributions to the collaboration of academics and the art world.

Turkish culture in China

Alpagut said the ensemble, which is made up of himself as violinist, pianist Kaya Güç, clarinetist Fahrettin Ünal, percussionist Yalçın Baygın and baglama player Kemal Bilsel Sarısözen, is continuing to perform concerts in the country and is preparing to take the stage at the Edirne International Art Festival on April 6.

Alpagut said the ensemble has been invited to the ISME World Conference, which will be held from Aug. 1 to 6 in the Chinese capital of Beijing. He said they would perform during concerts at the Chinese Conservatory, Chinese National Convention Center, the well-known venue at the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Tianjin Concert Hall near the city between July 30 and Aug. 4.

He said delegates and artists from 80 countries would participate in the 29th World Conference. “We will play our folk songs chosen from all geographies of Turkish culture. We will present Turkish culture at the conference during which there will be mutual interaction with 2,000 people, most of whom are Chinese.

He said the ISME conference, which is organized every two years in a different country, would be in Greece in 2012 and that Turkey planned to host the conference in the coming years.

A pearl in China: The Forbidden City

The structure, which is located in the center of Beijing, the Chinese capital, is known as the world’s largest and best-preserved group of wooden structures. The Forbidden City was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1987.

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government. It now houses the Palace Museum.

Built between 1406 and 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square meters. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere.