Monday, December 4, 2023 8pm Edirne

Trakya University State Conservatory Cultural Center

Soloist: Şefika Kutluer

Concert-master: Ahmet Hamdi Zafer

Orchestra: Trakya Ensemble

World-renowned flutist and State Artist Şefika Kutluer, who is known as the “Magic Flute”, a title given by the New York Times critics, will be accompanied by the Trakya Ensemble, formed by the teachers of Trakya University Conservatory, at the concert on December 4.

Trakya Ensemble is a string ensemble formed by the music teachers of Trakya University Conservatory in Edirne, each of whom are masters of their instruments.

In 2010, the “International Şefika Kutluer Festival” started in Ankara and expanded to different cities in Anatolia in the following years; There have been colorful performances, exhibitions and presentations from Germany to Russia, China to Mexico, Korea to Greece, Austria to the USA, Portugal to Luxembourg, Khakassia to Slovenia, Serbia to Czechia, Kosovo to Kazakhstan, Switzerland to Montenegro, Poland to Lithuania, England to France, Albania to Israel.

The International Şefika Kutluer Festival was selected 1st in the “Best Festival” category at the “Ace of MICE Awards 2020”, which is considered the Oscar of the event industry.

Şefika Kutluer, who was born in Ankara, states that she opened to the world armed with the values of Anatolia and that she is organizing this festival with the desire to repay her debt to the land where she was born and to contribute to Ankara becoming the capital of culture again.

Şefika Kutluer emphasizes that her duty as a musician is to create bonds of love between communities and countries: “I wanted to be active in an activity that would contribute to this issue by using my music circle that I have created thanks to my worldwide career. The fact that Turkey is an important bridge between east and west inspired me. I decided to organize a festival themed “East Meets West” in the capital Ankara.”

Started in 2010 in Ankara, the festival spread to other cities in the following years with concerts in Istanbul, Antalya, Alanya, Tarsus, Cappadocia and now Edirne.

State Artist Şefika Kutluer is the Goodwill Ambassador of Unicef and organizes many events for children around the world; she is the holder of the “Italian State Order”, “Austrian State Golden Order”, “Kazakhstan State Order of Culture” and “Slovak Republic Golden State Medal of Honor”.