Şefika Kutluer (born 5 May 1961) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

female

classical flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. She was born in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

, Turkey. While still in the primary school, she transferred to the primary school section of

Ankara State Conservatory The Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory ( tr, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Ankara Devlet Konservatuvarı), the first conservatory to be founded in the Republic of Turkey, was established in 1936 by a directive of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Th ...

upon the suggestion of

Ulvi Cemal Erkin Ulvi Cemal Erkin () (March 14, 1906 – September 15, 1972) was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904–1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction ...

, a notable musician and a friend of her father. In the conservatory, she specialized on flute, and graduated in 1979 with high honors. In 1983, she married to businessman Ahmet Refik Kutluer.

Music career

She achieved her soloist career in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy. She has performed in concerts at the

Palace of Nations The Palace of Nations (french: Palais des Nations, ) is the home of the United Nations Office at Geneva, located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was built between 1929 and 1938 to serve as the headquarters of the League of Nations. It has served ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

, Switzerland on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the

United Nations Organization The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, at the Palace of Spain in the presence of the King and the Queen, and in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan under the auspices of

Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in ...

. She has a large repertoire extending from the Baroque period to the Romantic period and from mystical music to cross-over works from the East and West. The daily ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' named her "Magic Flute". Currently, Kutluer is the flute soloist of the

İzmir State Symphony Orchestra İzmir State Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra located in İzmir, Turkey. Its principal conductor is Rengim Gökmen Rengim Gokmen (born August 19, 1955, Ankara) is a Turkish conductor. He is a music man who held important positions in clas ...

Awards

She was awarded the

Presidential Medal The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest Civilian decorations of the United States, civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize ...

of Turkey in 1985. On 22 August 1991, she was officially appointed as

State Artist State Artist ( tr, Devlet Sanatçısı, also sometimes translated as "National Artist") is an honorary title granted to prominent artists by the government of Turkey for their contributions to the Turkish culture. It was established in 1971 by the P ...

of Turkey. She has received the "Strategic Vision Award” from “Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM)", in 2013. She was also awarded abroad; like the "2000 Inter-Lyra Award" by Hungarian Foundation for Performing Arts . She is decorated abroad such as "Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta’ Italiana" by the President of Italy, with "Austrian Gold Medal of Merit" by the President of Austria, the "Cultural Medal of the Republic of Kazakhstan". In 2011, she has been appointed as the ". Goodwill Ambassador of

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

".UNICEF page
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutluer, Sefika Living people 1961 births Musicians from Ankara Turkish women Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory alumni Turkish classical flautists Women flautists State Artists of Turkey