State Opera

Musicians, who work in the purview of the Culture and Tourism Ministry and are facing a deduction of their salary for their work outside the ministry, have filed a lawsuit demanding the procedure be annulled.

This year's winners of the Culture and Tourism Ministry Special Awards, which have been presented for 44 years, are the Association for the Survival and Development of Anatolian Handicrafts (Anelsander), the İbrahim Alimoğlu Music Museum and the Sadberk Hanım Museum.

The General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet (DOB) will present world-famous opera and ballet works at international festivals in the summer, starting in Istanbul on June 10 and ending in Antalya on Sept. 21.

Turkish actor and dubbing artist İsmail Köksal Engür died on March 27 at the age of 77 due to complications caused by renal failure.

Engür's funeral ceremony was held yesterday, and he was buried at Karacaahmet Cemetery in Istanbul.

Engür is best remembered for his role as "Ak Sakallı Dede" (White-Bearded Dede) in one of the most popular Turkish TV series "Leyla ile Mecnun."

World-renowned conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim said on Jan. 6 he was stepping down as general musical director of Berlin's State Opera due to deteriorating health, marking the end of an era at the fabled institution.

The 29th Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival, organized by the General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet, will start with the famous opera "AIDA" on Sept. 10.

The festival will bring opera and ballet lovers together once again at the historical Aspendos Theater in the southern province of Antalya.

Ballet festival at Bodrum Castle: Organized by the State Opera and Ballet General Directorate, the 19th Bodrum Ballet Festival kicked off at the weekend with a Flamenco show by Spanish Aida Gomez Dance Company, 'Carmen.' The festival, organized at the Bodrum Castle, will feature seven more shows and end on Aug. 19 with 'Güldestan' by Modern Dance Ensemble Istanbul (MDTist).

The fourth Bodrum Castle Events will kick off with the "Mediterranean Breeze" concert on July 16, with the Mersin State Opera and Ballet Orchestra, under the direction of Conductor Rustem Rahmedov, performing a program of popular songs accompanying Soprano Funda Uyanık and Tenor Hakan Aysev.

Veteran musician and conductor Professor Rengim Gökmen says that music is an art that soothes harsh and violent feelings of human beings and penetrates into their souls. 

Murat Karahan, a Turkish tenor and general manager of the State Opera and Ballet of Turkey, will be performing Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Tosca at Russia's Bolshoi Theater with opera stars Anna Netrebko and Placido Domingo.