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Tekfen Philharmonic gave a concert
at UNIQ Istanbul Open Air Stage on June
19, as part of the 44
th
İstanbul Music Festi-
val. Entitled “Songs to the Full Moon,” the
concert was conducted by the young Uzbek
maestro Aziz Shokhakimov, a rising star of
classical music.
The event marked the first time Tek-
fen Philharmonic gave an open-air concert
as part of the İstanbul Music Festival, as it
accompanied Teona Dvali, the Georgian so-
prano with a naïve and impressive voice, An-
drej Dunaev, the Russian tenor who earned
his kudos with his soulful and masterly in-
terpretations, and Murat Karahan, the up
and rising Turkish tenor and last-minute
addendum to the program. Under the magi-
cal atmosphere of the full moon, the concert
began with popular arias and ended with
Bizet’s Carmen Suites, receiving a lengthy
standing ovation from the audience.
Tekfen Foundation financed the establishment of the Soma Microcredit Branch in 2014
as part of the Turkey Grameen Microfinance Program. In spring 2016, the Foundation
organized a microcredit festival where women could showcase their products and acquire
new skills.
Following the mining disaster in Soma,
in the Aegean province of Manisa in May
2013, Tekfen Foundation established a mi-
crocredit line to help the creation of alterna-
tive means of subsistence in the region. The
extend of this support has grown steadily,
with 379 women in Soma having applied
for credit to the Tekfen Foundation Soma
Microcredit Branch since 2014. In order to
further increase the number of women mak-
ing use of the means made available by the
branch, to expand the entrepreneurial po-
tential of the region, and develop new busi-
ness opportunities, the Microcredit Branch
organized a two-day festival in Soma on
April 29 and 30.
During the festival, women of Soma sold
their handmade products at the marketplace
set up in the town center. Women interested
in microcredit were able to get information at
the microcredit tent set up in the market, and
had the opportunity to listen to the experi-
ences of women of the Aegean Region who
have been successful thanks to microcredit.
In addition, workshops and courses held at
the municipality building for two days offered
inspiration to women planning to use micro-
credit. Since balancing one’s budget is just as
important as production, a seminar entitled
“The Budget-Savvy Woman” was also held
with subjects like smart use of money, money
management, savings, and smart investment.
Songs to the full moon by Tekfen Philharmonic
at the İstanbul Music Festival
HAND
MADE
HOME
GROWN
MICROCREDIT FESTIVAL