Cemal Reşit Rey

Cemal Reşit Rey — Biography

Cemal Reşit Rey was a Turkish composer, pianist and conductor, born in Jerusalem on 25 October 1904 and died in Istanbul on 7 October 1985. A member of the first generation of composers active after the founding of the Republic, he is remembered as one of the "Turkish Five" who established Western classical music in the country. He trained under Marguerite Long before studying at the Geneva Conservatory and later composition under Raoul Laparra in Paris.

From 1932 he taught piano and composition at the Istanbul Conservatory, and after 1946 he took up the conductorship of a symphony orchestra; the İstanbul Şehir Orkestrası he founded later evolved into the İstanbul State Symphony Orchestra. His output includes operas and operettas — many with librettos written by his brother Ekrem Reşit Rey — alongside two symphonies, several concertos and the march "Onuncu Yıl Marşı." Named a State Artist in 1981, he is honored today through Istanbul's Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, which bears his name.