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Kübra Kızıltan 14 years old Plays the piano and the drums
Orchestra conductor
Nazmi Veled 17 years old Plays the trombone
Assistant music teacher
Hazal Anık 14 years old Plays the cello and the piano
They are neither movie characters nor protagonists.
They are the successful musicians of "Music for Peace Orchestra".
3 years ago they were playing the accordion in a basement room at school.
Today they are playing on stage in front of an audience of hundreds.
In 2009, when Sabancı Foundation's Turkey's Changemakers first visited
"Music for Peace" established by Mehmet Selim Baki,
they were playing their instruments in Edirnekapı.
- 3 years ago we had two music workshops in 2 schools.
We only had accordion classes. Then these buildings were completed
and we got the chance to use every instrument.
Initially we were teaching 300 students. Now we have 700 registered students.
Until today, we have reached 3000 students.
We have nearly 14 different kinds of instruments.
There was one orchestra until March and then 3 more orchestras were added.
Initially we had 4 teachers,
now we have 20 working on a regular basis
and 28 are working as interns in our Foundation.
When Sabancı Foundation's Turkey's Changemakers first visited
"Music for Peace" Program in 2009,
Kübra Kızıltan had just begun playing the accordion.
She was a student in the third grade in primary school
and she was too shy to play her accordion in front of other people.
After 3 years, she became the conductor of the 70 person
Music for Peace orchestra which performed at Istanbul Technical University.
- I always had a desire to play the piano, so I started to play it. It has been 2 years.
The initiative called "Music for Peace" became a Foundation in 2011.
The Venezuelan maestro Simon Bolivar's concert in Turkey
changed the destiny of Music for Peace.
Bolivar, who brought music into the lives of thousands of children
in Venezuela with the orchestra "El Sistema",
visited the Music for Peace Foundation in İstanbul and invited them to visit his country.
Music for Peace trainers went to Venezuela to visit El Sistema
and they decided to establish a joint Turkey-Venezuela orchestra.
Now they are getting ready for concerts
which will be held both in Turkey and in Venezuela in the fall of 2012.
In September, 20 trainers from Music for Peace Foundation
will be going soon to Venezuela for training.
- When I first started to play the accordion, I had no plans about music in my mind.
Now I do. I started to go to the Conservatory
and I am a senior student.
- We are finding peace in music and creating peace through music.
We created a community here, new friends and new networks.
- Our ultimate purpose is to expand this project throughout the country.
All means prove but a blunt instrument, if they have not behind them a living spirit. Albert Einstein
Mehmet Selim Baki has changed the attitude
towards of children in Edirnekapı and brought music to their lives.
Success is not just in the instruments they play; it is in their eyes.