A case study on administrative educational and artistic structuring of children and youth orchestras in Turkey

This study, which aims to determine the administrative, educational and artistic structures of children and youth orchestras in Turkey in line with the opinions of the managers and conductors, was carried out with the case study design, which is one of the qualitative research approaches. Snowball sampling method, one of the purposive sampling methods, was used in the research. In this context, the research sample consists of 10 children and youth orchestras operating in the 2020-2021 academic year within the scope of private music education in Turkey. In the study, the data were collected using two separate interview forms developed by the researcher to be applied to the managers and orchestra conductors, the documents collected by the researcher and the archive records shared by the participants. Carried out with the managers and conductors of the orchestras, the interviews in the study were held face-to-face and through the online Zoom meeting due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Content analysis technique was used to analyze the qualitative data obtained from the interviews. The documents and archive records collected during the research process were collected to support the data obtained from the interviews and were not subjected to any analysis process. As a result of the research, according to the opinions of the orchestra managers, it was determined that the majority of the children and youth orchestras were affiliated with the district municipality. In addition, regarding the distribution of duties in the management of administrative affairs in orchestras, it has been determined that there is usually a responsible employee in informing the rehearsal and curriculum, preparing notes and organizing paperwork, and that the orchestra conductor, instructors and coordinators are also involved in the process. In addition, it was found out that the artistic projects and activities carried out by children and youth orchestras were concerts, domestic and international tours, online events, television broadcasting, promotional videos, CD recordings and documentaries. According to the opinions of the orchestra conductors, it was revealed that all orchestras mainly included international art music (classical music) in their repertoire, while jazz music, popular music and traditional music (local, public, military) were also vocalized. Furthermore, it was concluded that factors such as the musical development, motivation and familiar music of the students, as well as the region where the orchestra was established, the conditions it was in and its harmony with the society were determinant in the repertoire selection of the orchestras. However, it was determined that the difficulties encountered in the education process in orchestras were generally related to student absenteeism, inadequate duration of education, inability of students to work, financial distress and lack of instruments. Regarding the difficulties encountered in the education process in orchestras, it was determined that the orchestra conductors were resolute towards the problems, they had an encouraging and disciplinary approach towards the students, they had additional lessons with the students who could not participate in the rehearsal, and they were in contact with the parents to increase the awareness of the families.