State Conservatory Opera Department

My name is Ilkim Yilmaz. I’m a student at Bashkent University Composition and Music Theory Department. Our department is known as composition and music theory. Once you’re in the third year you can choose a division. This means that you choose either music theory or composition. If you choose composition like me, you become specialized in the field of composition. Our purpose is to educate people to excel and become knowledgeable in either composition or music theory subjects. Especially for composition it is expected from you to write a few pieces. At the same time, you should have a sufficient expertise regarding the subunits of music like counterpoint, orchestration, hearing skills, and listening skills. At the same time while studying undergraduate degree in Bashkent University we receive solmization training. Which is a very nice thing for us. Since we can constantly refresh our sharp and Solfegeous ears. Which greatly affects our composition writings. This is our essential subject. Later on we have a piano class. Whichever department you’re in you will study piano. But that’s not something frightening. Your teacher will be teaching you the pieces that you should study according to your level. And throughout the four years you will have improved in both listening and piano. In the field of composition we have counterpoint, harmony, and composition classes. We concentrate on these fields. In our school there are a lot of classrooms for us to study. These are one person classrooms. Each of them has an upright piano. You can stay here until whatever time and as much you want. At the same time there’s another division in our school. Here it consists of small studying rooms. These rooms don’t have pianos. In those rooms they mostly study theory or orchestration. You can work on any project pertinent to music. This is completely dependent on your- --wish. This means that you can be a composer, because you have a good ear, and because you’re good in playing instruments you can be a music arranger. Aside from that you can become an academician. You can be a composer and constantly join competitions, and master-classes abroad to improve yourself. Guys in the continuation of our video, my friend who is studying in a different department is going to brief you about her experiences while studying in this department in Bashkent University.
Hello I’m Bashak Tatar. I’m a student of the State’s Conservatory opera department in Bashkent University. In fact I’m an engineering graduate but a love for music that has been inside me since childhood brought me here. Previously I participated in polyphonic choirs; but I thought that to be able to do this professionally it’s necessary to receive the required training. So I joined the conservatory. Because of its strong and experienced academic staff I preferred Bashkent University. Our teachers taking interest in our concerns individually aside from classes and trying to help us with every issue are important from the students’ perspective. Our school’s orchestra, Orchestra Academic Bashkent, which brings us together with international musicians through the concerts they arrange throughout the semester. Also the works of the students of composition department are being vocalized from time to time. There are such possibilities as well. There are graduates, who became tutors, instructors, and academicians, like workers in the state’s opera and ballet, participants in the state’s theaters and musicals, workers in recording studios and people who continue with their careers as a soloist in musical groups abroad. Of course we all come with ideals. We start here with ideals. But it’s not that easy now to predict what is yet to come. After reaching a certain level, I want to see myself. And I think that it will be formed this way. Opera is a department that requires serious discipline and working both physical and spiritual. I believe that the people who think that they posses these characteristics, and love for music can choose this department.