Turkish trumpet player Erden Bilgen played the New Zealand première of Gallipoli - A Rhapsody for Trumpet and Orchestra with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra on 23rd November 2003. The composer, New Zealander Gary Daverne, conducted. He wrote the piece for Bilgen: its earlier world première was also performed by Bilgen and Daverne with the Turkish State Symphony Orchestra in Bursa.

The Auckland concert, at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna, was based on the theme of war. Gallipoli, a First World War campaign in the Dardanelles region of Turkey, is a major historical event for both Turkey and New Zealand, with horrific casualties inflicted on both countries in addition to Australia and others. According to the concert programme the Rhapsody, which includes in its middle section a traditional folk tune from the Turkish region of Canakkale, "is not intended to portray the horrors of war but more the emotions and reflective times of the young ANZAC and Turkish troops, summoned to war on Turkish ground." In the second picture Bilgen is performing in front of a backdrop showing a statue commemorating a famous humanitarian incident from the campaign, when a Turkish soldier rescued a wounded enemy officer.

Websites:
Erden Bilgen
Gary Daverne
Auckland Symphony Orchestra
Battle of Gallipoli - encylopaedia article

 

Revision: Added Erden Bilgen website 29th September 2004