Presentations & Teaching

Orient-Institut Istanbul Musicology Lecture Series (Fall/Winter 2024/2025)

Title: "Kayıttayız (Now Recording): Reflections on Researching Musical Labor in Türkiye as a Musician" 

Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 19:00 GMT +3

In-person at the Orient-Institut Istanbul and online

Turkish National Television (TRT2)

"Müziği Düşünmek [Thinking about Music]," Episode 2, 2024

I was an invited academic speaker for Turkey's arts and culture channel. I presented my research on the emergence of the "koro" (choir) in Turkish classical music as well as the structural and aesthetic impact of "professionalism" on music-making in Turkey. Other guests in the episode include Dr. Cem Behar, Dr. Onur Öner, and Derya Türkan. The episode is available on YouTube (captions enabled) as well as Turkish National Television's Tabii platform.

Alnadi Podcast: Guest Interview

Episode 104: "Seeking the Meaning of One's Own," 2023

I was the invited guest on Alnadi Podcast, where host Fadil Al Turki and I discussed my journey as a violinist trained in Western and Turkish classical music traditions. We talked about learning music in different cultures and the joys and challenges of "switching religions," musically speaking. The episode is available on YouTube, SoundCloud, and other podcast streaming apps. 

The Emergence of Music as a "Profession" in Turkey

Lecture for the British Institute at Ankara, 2022

In the early 20th century, the choir’s introduction to Turkish classical music-making was seen to support broader social reforms aimed at modernizing self-Westernization. Turkish classical music choirs have since created new models of musical patronage, transmission, and sociality, as well as a new class of “professional” musician with economic power and cultural influence. Now, musicians instrumentalize the concepts “profesyonel” (“professional”) and “amatör” (“amateur”) as status markers to enforce a hierarchy that arbitrates which musicians have enough status to transmit a form of national culture. This lecture seeks to demonstrate longstanding modes of musical engagement that defy categorization within an amateur-professional dichotomy as well as how music’s professionalization serves a role within a broader nation-building project. 

Conference Presentations

2024

2023

2022

2021

2019

2017

2015

Invited Talks and Teaching Experience 

– Provide career coaching, mentoring, mock interviewing, and essay reviewing for applicants for US/UK universities, graduate programs, and national fellowships

– Students accepted to top universities including Stanford, Yale, Princeton, UPenn, Cornell, and University of California schools.

– Offer one-to-one and group teaching for 300+ students in twelve countries in person and online, consistently maintain 4.9/5 rating

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– Multiple speaking engagements on US university admissions, standardized testing strategies, and building a strong extracurricular profile at London’s National Portrait Gallery, UK high schools, and virtual webinars in New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, and Turkey