REPUBLIC OF TURKEY 

MINISTRY OF CULTURE TOURISM

GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF FINE ARTS

BURSA REGIONAL STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

As the only “state” orchestra of Turkey, Bursa Regional State Symphony Orchestra (BRSSO) has its roots in the String Instruments Chamber Orchestra (1995) which was formed within the Uludağ University and the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality established Winds Percussion Instruments Ensemble (1996). These two communities were united with the initiative of the university the municipality, to form the Bursa Symphonic Orchestra which started giving concerts on a regular basis.

With the efforts of the deceased conductor Prof. Hikmet Şimşek, a retake of the musician recruitment examination under the administration of the Ministry of Culture Tourism took place, whereby Turkey’s first only “Regional” 6th “State Symphony” was born. Ahmet Borova, who has served the Presidential Symphony Orchestra (PSO) for over 30 years, was assigned as founding manager; while Orhan Şallıel was assigned as chief conductor continued this job until 2009. Before retiring in 2003, Ahmet Borova completed the administrative structure in accordance to law number 6940 in compliance with our country’s regulations about state orchestras. Since 2003, in accordance with the aforementioned law number, BRSSO has been electing the board of management including the general director among their own musicians.

Between 2009-2014, BRSSO continued their work with Turkey’s first woman conductor, İnci Özdil. In the following years, the orchestra worked with composer conductor Oğuzhan Balcı.

BRSSO has earned public recognition as a result of their quick rise in the industry extraordinary art life. Along with being responsible for the soundtrack, BRRSO has appeared in Dağhan Celayir’s short movie The One Note Man in 2008. The movie was presented in many national international festivals including the Cannes Film Festival continues to be screened all over the world. “The One Note Man” has also entered national international contest came in 1st in many of them.

In the years between 2009-2011, BRSSO has reached over 16.000 young viewers with free educational concerts for children their families. The musicians also participated as actors in one of the symphonic musical play, Mischievous Notes. The feedback from the audience has been very positive BRSSO aims to continue their efforts in educating young audiences for many years to come. 

In 2012 another major breakthrough happened when BRSSO acquired the Orchestra Of The Year award with votes from more than 200 professionals the public at the Donizetti Classical Music Awards ceremony. This annual event is organised by classical music magazine Andante and for the first time in its history, this award has been acquired by a state orchestra.

As a pioneer in the industry, BRSSO has hosted world-renowned artists. Among these are famous conductors such as; E. TABAKOV, A. RUDIN, B. FROMANGER, T STRUGALA, H. GRIFFITHS, G. AYKAL, R. GÖKMEN globally known national artists like, S. KAN, F. SAY, İ. BİRET, A. ERDURAN, A. SARICA, A. BARAN, G. ONAY, Y. KENTER, M. KENTER, G. ERKAL. 

Award winning important artist such as Valerie OİSTRAKH, Shlomo MINTZ, Vanessa MAE, Alexander MARKOV, Gilles APAP, Soyoung YOON, Roman KIM, Petr WAGNER, Wenzel FUCHS, Jiri BARTA, Peter BRUNS, Rafael WALLFISCH, Stefan SCHILLI, Maurice STEGER, Isabella Van KEULEN, , Roby LAKATOS, Klazz Brothers, George DALARAS, The SWINGLE SINGERS, The GLASS DUO are some of the many performers the orchestra worked with.

On top of serving our country with state concerts national tours in cities such as Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Muğla, Nevşehir, Çorum, Konya, Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Eskişehir, Kütahya, Yalova Kocaeli; BRSSO also successfully represents Turkey with international tours in countries like Poland, Syria, Greece, Bulgaria TRNC. 

Bursa Regional State Symphony Orchestra continues to rapidly expand their activities aims to become a prominent orchestra in Turkey abroad.