Antalya makes a name for itself with the City Museum cultural activities held in Karaalioğlu Park around the year. One of these activities, the Sunset Concerts, welcomes guests every Friday at 7.30 p.m.
Sunset Concerts in Antalya”s Karaalioğlu Park offer residents of the city a distinctive musical pleasure each Friday evening.
After taking over Karaalioğlu Park, Antalya”s City Museum started its scheduled activities with the Sunset Concerts, organized by the Antalya State Opera and Ballet and Antalya Metropolitan Municipality band. The museum”s goal was to protect the natural beauty of the historical Karaalioğlu Park and to combine this beauty with culture. Thus, the concerts act to convert the park into a cultural meeting place for they city”s people.
“What we aim with this project is to bring the city”s people with the museum, besides highlighting the natural beauty and historical importance of Karaalioğlu Park,” Kemal Demirtaş, vice-coordinator of City Museum, told the Turkish Daily News. Apart from the concerts, the museum also hosts different exhibitions, workshops and symposiums during the year, noted Demirtaş, adding that museum officials are in preparation for upcoming activities in coordination with some nongovernmental organizations, one of which is the Antalya Poets, Writers and Painters Culture Association, or ANŞOYAD.
Determined by an advisory board comprised of leading members of nongovernmental organizations, tourism bodies and Akdeniz University, the Sunset Concerts began June 27. The songs, prepared as three parts by the Antalya State Opera and Ballet Orchestra and conducted by Hakan Kalkan, were highly appreciated by the listeners, who gave a standing ovation at the end of the concert.
“The concerts will last across the year”
“Located on an area of 100,000 square meters, the 75-year-old Karaalioğlu Park deserves to be more functional, with more modern and cultural activities,” said Tunç Müstecaplıoğlu, voluntary coordinator of Karaalioğlu Park activities. “We had planned the Sunset Concerts to last for one month; however we decided to carry on them across the year upon seeing that the first concert on June 27 attracted 250 people while the second one in July was attended by 450 people,” noted Müstecaplıoğlu, adding that the Sunset Concerts are not recitals but orchestra concerts by professional musical groups.
“We have received positive responses for the two concerts held so far. What we need is well-organized publicity,” noted Seher Özen Karadeniz, advertising and communication director for City Museum. The more people that attend the concerts, the happier we will be, emphasized Karadeniz.
Resource: Turkish Daily News
