Turkish choir mesmerizes New Yorkers at outdoor concert

NEW YORK

The New York Atatürk Choir has presented a musical feast to their audiences in an open-air concert in Manhattan using traditional and classical instruments.

In line with the New York City Open Culture Program, the choir - the only Turkish music band - performed a concert called “Turkish Melodies in Manhattan” to the delight of music lovers.

New Yorkers passing by on the street also stopped to watch the concert and accompanied the choir with applauses and dances.

Reyhan Özgür, the Turkish consul general in New York, was also among the audience.

In the concert, where Caner Tokgözol was the music director, the choir sang songs embodying different colors of Turkish culture from the Balkans to the Mediterranean.

“We want to introduce and spread Turkish music and Turkish culture to art lovers in New York,” said Hakan İnan, the president of the Turkish-International Music Ensemble, following the show.

Founded by Nedim Katgı, a prominent Turkish musician and educator, the choir has been operating since 2008 to keep Turkish music alive and promoted in the United States.

Supporting the cosmopolitan structure of New York with its repertoire consisting of works from different regions of Turkey and orchestras representing many ethnic groups, the choir gave its last concert before the pandemic at Carnegie Hall, a world-famous concert hall.