interview
QUEEN OF THE VIOLA Tuba Ozkan, associate professor at Mersin University, aka queen of the viola. She is a professor, a teacher, and a musician. The thing that makes her special is her capability of working in different environments and with different kinds of people. She can teach an 8-year-old student in the morning and the next day she can give a concert with the most popular and professional musicians. On one side, some 8-year-old students What does music mean to you? Music; It is a miraculous discipline that unites people regardless of religion, language, or race. A universal language in which people can express themselves best with all their openness and sincerity without being judged. How do you feel playing the viola? When I play the viola, I feel united with the universe. It is a discipline that makes me fulfill my responsibility to myself and humanity and increases my awareness. Meditation, religion, happiness. How do contributed
12 - VOICES
you to
think art humanity?
even can’t hold the viola, on the other side some musicians can play viola with closed eyes and Tuba Ozkan can work with both sides. I had a chance to be at her concerts. When she is on the stage, she looks like a different person. She doesn’t dance but she looks like dancing. It is no special light for her, but she is shining. She has no wings but seems to fly. We did an interview, let’s see what I asked and what she answered.
Art; It is the only legacy that provides an infinite perspective, nurtures the imagination and more importantly, the only legacy that human beings can leave to the next generations.
If your progress from the first moment you picked up the viola until now was a way, what would it be? What did you encounter on this road? A road that goes on non-stop throughout your own eternity. It is a great adventure and teaching. When you go through the same path over and over again, this discipline reminds you that change and learning are endless. Also, it teaches awareness, acceptance, and respect for everything. During the process, I
realized that all humanity is traveling on the same ship (Earth). Although my personal and social development is very different, billions of people do not have another ship to travel in their lifetime. Regardless of our status, music needs its unifyingness and a universal language in order to understand each other and live in this tiny ship “as befits a human being”.
If art was a color for you, what color would it be? I think I could answer this question differently in every ten-year period. However, if I need to give a single answer today, I can say that every color except “powder pink”, which is insistently tried to be imposed on people. My
