Dr. Evren Kutlay - The Musical Turkish Delight: Not Well-Known Western Reflections from the Capital of Orient

Stop by Allen's Market on April 12th from 6 to 7:30 PM for a lecture with GCSU'S 2024 Newell Scholar Dr. Evren Kutlay! Dr. Kutlay will be speaking about 19th Century Ottoman Istanbul. Her lecture will include experiences and stories of famous Western musicians as well as music samples from the time period. Mark your calendars and join us for this FREE (and super interesting!) event!

*About Dr. Kutlay*

Evren KUTLAY, Professor of Music, Pianist-Musicologist

Dr. Evren Kutlay graduated from German teaching Cagaloglu Anatolian High School and Bogazici University Mathematics Department while studying at Istanbul University State Conservatory Piano Department. Afterward, she studied with a full scholarship at the University of West Georgia. She received her MBA and MM in Piano Performance degrees with high honors and worked as a GRA both in the Business and Music departments as well as for the University President’s Business class offered to honors students. During her studies in the US, she was awarded the “Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Scholars Award” for her successful business studies. She received the “Award of Excellence” at GMTA (Georgia Music Teachers Association) piano competition, the “Star of the Year” award from MTNA (Music Teachers National Association), and was invited to become a member of MTNA. She completed her Ph.D. in Musicology at Istanbul University. She is a Full Professor of Music at Istanbul Zaim University and is the Newell Visiting Scholar at Georgia College and State University during Spring 2024.

In addition to her regular solo piano and chamber music concerts throughout Europe and the US, she continues her research in “Ottoman-European and Ottoman-American musical interactions.” She has articles published in nationally and internationally peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, several book chapters, as well as four books, titled Osmanlının Avrupalı Müzisyenleri (European Musicians of the Ottoman Empire), 100 Soruda Osmanlı Müziği (Ottoman Music in 100 Questions), “An Introduction to Western Music History,” and “Géza Hegyei: A Hungarian Musician at the Ottoman Court.” Moreover, she has a solo piano CD recording, Dersaadette Avrupa Müziği (European Music in Ottoman Istanbul), which consists of an archival repertoire of Ottoman Western Music.

In 2011, she was awarded the WPTA (World Piano Teachers Association) Diploma of Excellence Accredit, the highest esteemed accolade at WPC (World Piano Conference) in Serbia for her paper titled “Ottoman Piano Literature”. In appreciation of her outstanding commitment to introducing the rich heritage of Turkish Culture and History through her research and performances in the area of Music of the Ottoman Empire, she was awarded Special Recognition from the American Congress and commissioned as “Honorary Texan” by the State of Texas. Moreover, November 8, 2013, was proclaimed “Dr. Evren Kutlay Day” by the Mayor of Houston, Texas. In 2017, the Turkish Cultural Foundation (TCF) awarded her the Fellowship in Turkish Culture and Arts to present her paper titled “Hints of Ottoman American Musical Interactions during Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries” at the International Conference on Turkish Arts, Literature, and Culture in New York. She was a Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University American Studies Department in October 2019.

She has been one of the writers of contemporary classical music journals in Turkey, a column writer at the national newspaper Star, and an advisor of several documentary series for the Turkish National Broadcasting Channel TRT and various art institutions. She prepared a classical music radio program called “Müzik Evreninde Yolculuk (A travel in the music universe)” on TRT Radio 3 channel. She founded WPTA-Turkey and is a permanently authorized WPTA International Piano Competition judge.