Voice Training Department

The Voice Training Department that was established in order to train voice performers in the fields of Turkish Folk Music and Turkish Art Music in 1989-90 Academic Year.  During four years of bachelor’s education, the department aims at introducing and transmitting the examples of our vocal repertoire chosen according to  eras, composition and singing techniques, local dialects and performance styles to the musicians of the young generation. Next to the advantages of the global era, in the 21^st century, a time when traditional cultures are vulnerable to change and faced with drifting apart from originality, one of the main aims of the Voice Training Department is to sustain and promote our traditional music culture in internationally and transmit it to the younger generations.

Akın Özkan, who enriched Turkish Art Music repertory with his many vocal and instrumental works next to the makams and usûls that he composed, had been the head of the department until 1998-99 Academic Year. Akın Özkan, who had left his mark in Turkish Music History, passed away in 2007.

In the Voice Training Department, ‘Turkish Music Solfege and Theory, Western Music Solfege and Theory, Voice Technique and Instrument Training’ courses in order to provide the students with basic musical skills from the beginning of the first year. There are also courses as Repertory, Style and Repertory, Group Performance (Turkish Folk Music / Art Music), Turkish Folk Music Theory, Folklore, Music History, Turkish Music Genres and Their Analysis, Harmony and Piano.

There is a curricula of 4 years_ the first 2 years for undergraduate and the other 2 for graduate’s degrees_ in the department. Since its foundation, about 300 students has graduated from the department and while some of them has become music teachers, soloists/chorists in State Turkish Music Ensembles, there are others who serve as research assistants, lecturers or instructors in different universities.

ADMISSION CRITERTIA

Voice Training Department entrance exams are held in two levels and in the first one; candidates are asked to sing five vocal works that they will be prepared from Turkish art music or Turkish folk music repertory. In this exam, candidates are evaluated in terms of tone color, ambitus and loudness, ability to sing the works correctly, the level of difficulty of the works, and the manner of vocalization. Exam results are announced on the same day as successful or unsuccessful. In the second level of the Voice Training Department entrance exam, the candidates' musical abilities are evaluated by two melodies and two rhythm patterns, one for the tanbur/baglama and the piano, and the other for measuring musical memory. Evaluation is ranked starting from the highest score among the candidates who get at least 70 points out of 100.