Aziz Nesin is 100 Years Old

As part of the events organised to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Aziz Nesin's birth, our choir performed the last movement of Can Aksel Akın's Symphony No.1 with the composer's piano accompaniment. Here's a summary of Ahmet Say's article about the evening:

On Sunday, 23 October 2016, we watched a panel discussion titled "Aziz Nesin is 100 years old" at the Contemporary Arts Centre in Ankara, hosted by the Çankaya Municipality, followed by a meaningful concert. Levent Cantek, one of the versatile supporters of the Nesin Foundation, took the opportunity to organise an extraordinary "Aziz Nesin Exhibition" at the Contemporary Arts Centre. The curator of the exhibition was Işın Önol.

After the speeches, which were not very long, there was a break for a "musical evening" that had all of us feeling all sorts of different emotions. The programme of songs sung by baritone Mert Özdemir, accompanied by Can Aksel Akın on the piano, was not only appropriate for such an evening, but also left the audience with unforgettable emotions. After this short but very high quality concert, the Saygun Philharmonic Choir, conducted by our esteemed choirmaster Çiğdem Aytepe, was again accompanied by Can Aksel Akın on the piano.

The pieces performed were Can's own compositions. Since I don't want to do anyone any injustice, I'd like to quote the songs that the choir performed along with their lyrics:

• "Böyle gelmiş, böyle gitmez" by Aziz Nesin

• "Deniz üstünde ala bulut" by Nazım Hikmet

• "Yüz karası değil, kömür karası" by Orhan Veli

• "Söz" by Aziz Nesin

• "Sivas Acısı" by Aziz Nesin (the last movement of the symphony dedicated to Aziz Nesin)

• “Benim Zenaatim” by Aziz Nesin, composed by Cenan Akın, Can's father.