BURAK ONUR ERDEM
Dr. Burak Onur Erdem is the Principal Conductor of the Turkish State Choir.
He completed his secondary education at Deutsche Schule Istanbul and graduated with high honors from Boğaziçi University, earning a degree in Political Science & International Relations along with the Rector’s Prize. Dr. Erdem furthered his musical education at the ITU Centre for Advanced Studies in Music, obtaining a Master’s in Music Theory and a Ph.D. in Conducting. His postgraduate studies continued under Prof. Johannes Prinz at Kunstuniversität Graz. Additionally, he has received advanced training through masterclasses with notable conductors such as Maria Guinand, Georg Grün, Frieder Bernius, Michael Gohl, Denes Szabo, Volker Hempfling, and Anders Eby.
Dr. Erdem's early career was distinguished by prizes in the Jugend Musiziert competitions in Cairo, Athens, Rome, and Nürnberg. With his choir Rezonans, he has achieved recognition by winning prizes in prestigious competitions in Cork, Arezzo, Varna, and Marktoberdorf. He has also led performances across Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Greece, bringing Turkish choral music to international audiences.
As the Principal Conductor of the Turkish State Choir, Dr. Erdem has premiered and recorded numerous new choral pieces. He is a co-founder of the Walter Strauss Choral Conducting Masterclass in Ankara and he is teaching choral conducting at the Bilkent University Music Department.
Dr. Erdem is also the founding president of the Choral Culture Association, a community of choirs and choral experts in Türkiye. The association’s achievements include hosting the European Choral Association's General Assembly & Conference in Cappadocia, founding the Turkish National Youth Choir, organising annual Choral Marathons, conferences, choral conducting training programmes and initiating the Turkish Choral Music Library.
His expertise is recognised internationally, serving as a jury member for prestigious competitions in Japan, Singapore, Germany, Italy, and the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. He has worked in music commissions for the Europa Cantat Festivals in Tallinn and Ljubljana, the Leading Voices Festival in Utrecht, and in Tallinn. In 2023, he served as the Festival Director for the World Symposium on Choral Music in Istanbul.
Dr. Erdem still is the Vice-President of both the European Choral Association and the International Federation of Choral Music.