| Art Profile |
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Assoc. Prof. Yekta Kara was born in Istanbul. When she was five years old, she started playing piano at the Istanbul Municipality Conservatory. After graduating from German High School in 1970, she went to Germany and entered the Opera Department at the Munich State Music Academy, where she studied singing with Prof. Marianne Schech; lied with Prof. Hermann Reuter and Erik Werba; and opera with Prof. Erich Bohner and Richard Holm with a DAAD scholarship. Kara also studied opera stage management with Prof. Günther Rennert for 5 years and graduated from the Munich State Music Academy in 1978. Kara also graduated from the Theater Department at the Istanbul Municipality Conservatory.
Between 1978 and 1980, Kara worked as a soloist and dramaturgy in the Ankara State Opera and Ballet. In the same period, she directed stages first time. She gave numerous solo recitals and concerts with many orchestras. She participated in the 18th and 19th Moniuszko Festivals. Kara performed on various radio and television programs. In addition, she has written more than 100 articles and writings, which have been published in many newspapers and magazines.
Since 1980, Kara serves as a soloist, stage manager, general director and chief dramaturgy in the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. She has also worked as a lecturer at the State Conservatory, which belongs to Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, for 27 years. Between 1992 and 2000, Kara staged many operas and operettas such as Mozart’s “the Abduction from the Seraglio”, the Magic Flute”, “Don Giovanni”, “Cosi Fan Tutte”, “Zaide”, Verdi’s “Macbeth”, “Othello”, “Aida”, “Nabucco”, “La Traviata”, Il Trovatore”, Puccini’s “Turandot”, “La Boheme”, Madam Butterfly”, “Tosca”, Rossini’s “the Barber of Seville”, “the Italian Girl in Algiers”, “II. Mehmed”, Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale”, Belisario”, Bellini’s “I Capuleti e I Montecchi”, Giordano’s “Andrea Chenier”, G. Bizet’s “Carmen”, J. Offenbach’s “the Tales of Hoffmann”, Saint-Saens’s “Samson and Dalila”, Weber’s “Ebu Hasan”, and Fall’s “Istanbul Days” (operetta). In addition to her activities in Turkey, she has also served as a guest director in Germany, France, the United States, Mexico, and Bulgaria. In 2004, the opera “the Abduction from the Seraglio”, which Kara directed, was staged as the opening show in the 2004 European Culture Days.
Awards:
1995, the best opera director award, (T.C. Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
1996, Presidential Award for Culture and Art
1996, a knight from the Italian Republic
1998, State artist
Reference: operaturkiye.com, leylagencer.org, alumni.sabanciuniv.edu
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