Lifestories of creative people living in our midst

By Heidi Trautmann

There goes the legend that the stars in the sky adapt a certain constellation to bless the birth of a coming child with the gifts of music, but if we regard the Hoca Family of Nicosia then those stars responsible must have chosen to be on duty several times. The Hoca Family is blessed with four sons three of them definetely followed the call of music.

I have met with two of them, that is Ali the oldest, who studied trombone and piano and is today with the Izmir Opera and Ballet Orchestra; I saw him conducting the orchestra for the Turksoy Opera Days in Bellapais on two occasions. Oskay, the second born, I have met on various occasions,  first with full awareness with ‘Cypress Classica’ founded by him, Fikri Toros and Osman Cankoy, and secondly as the guest conductor of the Nicosia Municipality Orchestra.

I had the chance and pleasure to meet Oskay Hoca for the interview at the house of his friend and well known Turkish Cypriot guitarist and composer of guitar music Kemal Belevi in Lapta for reasons of interpreting. (I love Kemal’s rhapsodies and while I am writing these lines I am listening to his music from a CD he gave me).

Oskay Hoca has a very friendly and soft face, it looks as if he were in peace with himself. I have often met with this phenomenon in professional performing artists who draw the strength for their work from themselves, who have this inner power that rejuvenates itself with endless creative activity in music.

Oskay Hoca was born in Nicosia in 1962.

“My parents loved music, father had joined a Turkish music choir in Nicosia, but he did not go beyond that or play an instrument for the simple reason that it was by far too expensive in those days.”

When did music start to enter your life, I asked. “It was in primary school ; I first started to play the melodica, it was easier in connection with the school orchestra, but it soon occurred that playing it made me feel dizzy. My father then bought me a guitar, but if you ask me which instrument a child of this age should start with, I would recommend the piano.

What other subject did you fancy when in school? Sports, literature?

“Actually there was nothing else than music that interested me, really. Perhaps, what I liked doing was handicraft, to create something.  After some years I had put the guitar aside and continued with viola; that was in my secondary school years at the Turkish Maarif College. It was at the age of 14 years, that I started to have viola lessons with the viola player at the TRNC State Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 15 years, I went to Ankara, I wanted to study music and join my brother Ali who had entered the conservatoire one year earlier. Our parents supported the idea of us studying music.”

However, it meant that I had to start secondary school again from the beginning; three years I have had in Cyprus, so my first three years at the conservatoire I did nothing but music, besides music history, harmony and I was taught piano and oboe; my oboe teacher was the first oboeist of the Ankara Symphony Orchestra. After these three years I continued with secondary education but skipped one year.”

Where did you live, I asked. What was your brother studying at the conservatoire?

“My brother studied trombone and piano. We both lived at the dormatory of the conservatoire and went home to Cyprus for our holidays. In our free time we went to concerts, usually once a week, entrance was free for the students. Apart from that we did enjoy our life just as the others did, we were young.”

It must have been a marvellous time to be together with so many like minded young people.

“Yes, there were five or six of us and after one year my younger brother Tanju came as well to become a cellist. Ah yes, it was a good time. I then graduated - two years ahead of time - in 1985 with honours. I returned home, and although I was offered a good future in Turkey, I wanted to go back.”

You were 23 years old then, what happened next?

“18 months military service, so I was 25 when I started my career at the TRNC State Symphony Orchestra as oboist under the directorship of Fikret Özgün. I am still with them; today I am the Director of the TRNC State Orchestra and Choir. An orchestra which consists of three members only....”

Oh, a State Orchestra with three members only? How come?

“This is the tragedy of Cyprus.... the State insists on having a State Orchestra but doesn’t have the money to fully man it... there are but three professional musicians employed, a sort of status quo....When we want to give a concert we have to man it with amateurs....However, we did not give a concert in ten years, except chamber concerts some 3 years ago.”

To form an orchestra we have approached the President Mehmet Ali Talat. Talat had promised but than he declined. We have well educated musicians in our country but the government is not prepared to man the stools of the orchestra that are empty...what can we do, we continue waiting.”

That is not very satisfying for a young professional musician coming back home to do something for his country. Somehow it reminds me of the sad situation with the State Theatre, that has members on the pay roll but no theatre building to play in. How did you then satisfy your urge to do music, I asked.

“So while we were and still are waiting we continued to do music, chamber music evenings in smaller groups, I directed the ‘State’ Choir – once a year we went to participate at the Ankara Festival.  

It was in 1987 that I had joined the TRNC State Theatre and in the same year I had also started to teach at the newly founded Anadolou Art and Music School in Nicosia music theory, solfège and oboe for seven years. In 1995 I played my brother Ali’s Oboe Concerto with the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra. However, being young and full of energy I also played entertainment music on the keyboard with a band in hotels.

You must really have been desperate. When did you start conducting the Nicosia Belediye Orchestra?

“That was in 2002. Meanwhile we have done some concerts together on a more regular basis....”

Yes, I came across anouncements more often and have been to hear them play once in Bellapais together with the Kyrenia Chamber Choir only recently on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of St. Andrew’s Church, and shortly before Christmas in the very nice concert hall at the TED College (near the Fair Grounds) with a lovely programme of popular classic music by Corelli, Carulli, Mozart, Dvorak, Brahms, Mozart, Gluck and Strauss and one piece by Oskay Hoca himself: Erkek Karsilama 1.

The auditorium was frightingly empty, a hall built for hundreds of people with a good accustic, was only occupied by perhaps 30 people.

“Yes, it is frightening, although the concerts are free, we don’t see music teachers with their students, although it would be very important for them, they are all not deeply interested....”

Could it be that the modern way of living, entertainment on internet are keeping them away from such activities? It is the same with art exhibitions, I never see many students in art venues.

“Yes, sure, that is very true, but it would be part of the education system to make them go.”

I know that you have been trying to make music on many levels, also been forming the group ‘Cypress Classica’, I have been to two of the concerts and wrote about them.

“Cypress Classica” was founded in January 2008 by Fikri Toros, Oskay Hoca and Osman Cankoy, with the  slogan ‘Turkish Cypriot Folk Music with a Classical Touch’. The Ensemble consists of  Fikri Toros (Piano), Oskay  Hoca (Oboe), Osman  Cankoy (Guitar and Vocal), Petek Cankoy (Vocal Soloist), Mustafa Fegan (Violin), Ayşe Sadık (Cello) and Eralp Adanır (Percussions). The repertoire includes folk pieces of an era from 200-300 years ago  to the present, and are all arranged for classical instruments by Oskay Hoca. The Gala concert took place on the 24th October 2008, which was followed by a number of public performances accross Northern Cyprus. The mission was to bring together  the “classical” with the “contemporary”, the “past” with “today” and the “old” with the “new” all around Cyprus Turkish Folk Music.

“Yes, I am strongly linked to our folk music, I also did a number of compositions and arrangements for choir and orchestra; “Dizeler” (Lines of Poetry) comprising three movements for orchestra; children’s songs; and “oyun” for Oboe and Piano.”

Oskay, you are married, what is your wife doing, is she also in the music scene?

“Yes, my wife is a music teacher but last year she retired  and my son aged 24 plays the electronic guitar, in one of our concerts he performed as a soloist when I arranged classical and rock music for electric guitar and orchestra. It is important to speak the same language in a family or partnership.”  I can only agree to that.

Oskay, we have been talking of the importance of music, of being introduced to good music, of consciously listening to good music, what is your message or your leitmotiv which makes you carry on in-spite of so many difficulties you encounter.

“The Arts in general – and music in particular - are the motor of society, a life without music is empty, meaningless, I believe it is so for all creative people, and by the music that is performed in a country by the professional and official musical institutions you can recognise the level of culture, also by the mastership of instrumental and vocal interpretation and by the mastership of passing on knowledge and understanding in educating the younger generation. It is the duty of the knowledgables to guide and educate society.”