Nehir Akansu (Turkey)

Youth Ambassador

Dear everyone,

I am so glad and honored to be selected as a board member of the International Viola Society. It is a privilege to share the motivation of going forward and promote the viola for the future with the experienced and qualified viola soloists and professors.

I am a passionate, versatile violist who interprets and improvises in classical, jazz, folk, and experimental styles. I began the viola at age twelve. After fourteen years of classical music education, concerts, and jobs, I decided to change course and pursue my career as an improviser and composer in Jazz and Folk styles of Celtic, Flamenco, and Tango. I am thankful to my music path and the people that we come across in life that encouraged this inspiration.

The music took me to various countries around the world, including the Young Euro Classic at Konzerthaus, Berlin; Santa Cecilia Concert Hall in Rome, with the Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra; the Baltic Sea Youth Orchestra tour in Bonn; Beethovenfest, Usedom, St Petersburg, Milan, Verona, Izmir, and Istanbul Music Festivals.

The turning point of my viola life happened in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, when I received a scholarship to a higher orchestral specialization program at the Escuela Superior de Música. I performed as an intern violist during the season of 2015 –16 in the Orquesta Real Filharmonía de Galicia where I met their folk music and culture—I fell in love with it. In those musical gatherings, I started to improvise more seriously alone and with the musicians.

I graduated with a masters degree in Contemporary Performance and Production Concentration from the Berklee College of Music where I began to compose and record my improvisations. The experience allowed me to first participate in the International Viola Congress in Rotterdam 2018, “New ways to explore.” I composed “Rotterdam Blues” for viola and piano, specifically for the Congress. I received my Ph.D. in 2023 in Art with a specialization in Production and Research from the the Polytechnic University.

Currently, I live in Valencia. My composition and research focuses on improvisation in folk and jazz music in interrelation with audiovisuals and contemporary dance.

In the 47th International Viola Congress and Festival in Columbus, Georgia, USA, I performed at Bo Bartlett Visual Art Center in June 2022.