The Şişli Symphony Orchestra of Istanbul under the direction of Serâ Tokay

The Symphony Orchestra of Şişli was founded in 2005 by the mayor of Şişli (Istanbul) M. Sarıgül, a particularly popular personality in the political life of Turkey.

Serâ Tokay, the principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Şişli has been responsible for its formation, dynamically mobilizing the resources of her players, while demanding from them the highest aesthetic standards, thereby establishing an unusual equilibrium between the severe requirements of the artistic ideal and the empathic touch she owes to the fact of being a woman, which latter has helped her develop a special rapport with sixty six young musicians figuring amongst the most brilliant of the new generation in Turkey.

The Symphony Orchestra of Şişli is inspired by one single idea: to see to it that, through the playing of the great works of a repertory running from Romanticism to the first half of the 20th century, the whole nation is exposed to the universal values of our human culture, values which this nation endorses without always being fully conscious of its heritage. With a view to confirming the universal aspirations of the Turkish people, the Symphony Orchestra of Şişli intends to diffuse this reaffirmation of the inherent potential of the Turkish people first in Europe, the birth place of universal values transcending all specific localities, but then also in the East, through concerts that are being planned in Afghanistan and India.