Conference Banquet

The conference banquet will be held at Biz İstanbul Restaurant, located inside the Atatürk Culture Center (AKM) in Taksim. Biz İstanbul offers a contemporary interpretation of Istanbul’s historic and traditional dishes, blending deep-rooted culinary heritage with modern touches.

Details about banquet registration will be shared soon via the conference email group. Stay tuned!

Theatre: VIRGINIA WOOLF – 4 Rooms

Focusing on Virginia Woolf, one of the most influential figures of world literature whose impact endures not only through her works but also through her life story and intellectual legacy, the play centers on Woolf’s tragic death and the final moments preceding her suicide.

In a world overshadowed by war and devastation, Virginia Woolf created an entirely new universe through her writing. The production brings to the stage her solitude at her writing desk, the psychological turmoil she endured, and the darkness that ultimately led her to suicide—interwoven with performance, music, and poetry recitation.

Written & Directed by: Umut Kırcalı

Lighting Design: Yakup Çartık

Set Design: Umut Kırcalı

Sound Design: Umut Kırcalı

Assistant Director: Pelin Koçak

Dramaturg: Erhan Çene

Voice Over: Aslı Turan

Cast:

Burcu Çelik

Enise Kurbaş

Gizem Ünlü

Gülşah Büktür

Güneş Gürpınar

– 50 Minutes

Echoes of the Room: Sound Performance Experience

Echoes of the Room is a site-specific sound-performance experience based on selected texts from the diaries of Virginia Woolf. Rather than presenting sound in isolation through headphones, the work aims to facilitate an experience through relationships established with the space, surfaces, and the body.

The performance takes place daily during a 60-minute time slot throughout the conference. A maximum of 5 participants are admitted to the experience simultaneously during this period.

The pre-recorded audio is transferred to participants' mobile devices via a QR code. Listening is conducted through a bone conduction speaker. As participants move through the space, they bring the speaker into contact with various surfaces; this contact transforms the propagation and perception of the sound.

The performance features no fixed stage, viewing point, or seating arrangement. Participants move freely within the space starting from a designated point. The experience is lived individually; its duration varies depending on the participant's movement and is expected to last a maximum of 10 minutes.

Text / Concept / Dramaturgy: Duygu Çelik Burkay

Project Coordinator: Papatya Tıraşın

*The experience is available in Turkish and English.

Concert

The Shared Desk: Virginia and Leonard in Their Own Words

Blending classical music and theater into a vivid interdisciplinary performance, The Shared Desk: Virginia and Leonard in Their Own Words offers a compelling reimagining of Dominick Argento’s Pulitzer Prize-winning song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Written for mezzo-soprano and piano, Argento’s work draws on Virginia’s personal diary entries to create a deeply emotional musical exploration of the writer’s life and artistic voice.

Excerpts from Leonard Woolf’s autobiographies are interspersed between the musical movements, offering an illuminating perspective on the couple’s shared life. Together, these spoken and sung texts form an intimate, layered portrait of their marriage and Virginia’s lifelong struggle with mental health.

Mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava, pianist Samuel Gaskin, and actor Nathan Stith bring this fusion of song and drama to life, inviting audiences into Virginia Woolf’s world through Argento’s music, Leonard’s reflections, and Virginia’s own unforgettable words.

Crafting performances that showcase voice, organ, and piano, Jacquelyn Matava and Samuel Gaskin have been debating with each other about music since 2018. What has resulted is a partnership of idea sharing, stylistic experimentation, and communication through music. Duo MG presents standard recital repertoire in addition to a variety of themed programs, including Short Stories, which contrasts traditional and modern songs, and Sacred Song, a program of voice and organ music that celebrates world religions.

Matava and Gaskin have also established promising solo careers. Winner of The American Prize for Women in Art Song (2023), mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava is equally at home on the opera, concert, and recital stage. Her versatility in opera is showcased in roles spanning from the title role in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas to Nelda in Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents. As a concert soloist, Jacquelyn has been heard in performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor, Duruflé’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, and Stravinsky’s Les Noces. She currently teaches at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, MA. Samuel Gaskin won 1st prize ex-æquo in the 2023 St. Albans International Organ Improvisation Competition and is currently Organist at the American Church in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. As a collaborative pianist, Samuel works regularly with the Paris Choral Society and Atlantic Theatre Arts. As a composer, Samuel has written a variety of works, including Stained Glass Suite, for solo cello, Psalm 118, for mixed choir and organ, and Berceuse, for mezzo-soprano and piano. Samuel is also professor of jazz piano in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt.

Nathan Stith holds a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Colorado Boulder and is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Theatre at Trinity University.  He teaches courses in acting, voice & speech, musical theatre performance, and musical theatre history.  At Trinity he has directed productions of Cabaret, Into the Woods, Company, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, among others.  As an actor, Nathan most recently appeared in The Normal Heart with La Bete Productions.  He has also performed at regional theatres across the country as well as Broadway national tours of Jesus Christ Superstar and Romeo and Juliet.  Nathan spent several years playing Bobby on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live.  Select directing credits include Jersey Boys at the San Pedro Playhouse, and regional theatre productions of 39 Steps, Visiting Mr. Green, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Souvenir, among others.  Nathan lives in San Antonio with his wife, Sarah, and his two children, Zoe and Owen.

The Sounds of the Golden Horn – Soundwalk

As part of the conference, we have designed a soundwalk along the shore of the Golden Horn—the impressive estuary that deeply inspired Virginia Woolf during her 1906 visit to Istanbul.

Soundwalk as an excursion whose primary purpose is to listen to the environment. As artist and writer Brandon LaBelle suggests, a soundwalk is a tool for developing a deeper, more sensitive relationship with our surroundings. Through walking and active listening, our excursion becomes an exploration—an attempt to reveal cultural and sonic resonances of specific locations.

Guided by these principles, our exercise connects this acoustic practice to the historical landscape. In her travel journals, Woolf documented her experiences navigating the waters of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. She did not merely observe the city from afar; she was physically on the water, immersed in the fluid, acoustic environment of the estuary. To capture a similar sense of immersion, this soundwalk invites participants to engage directly with the water's edge, walking between the neighborhoods of Balat and Eyüp.

During the soundwalk, participants will experience the Golden Horn through its distinct sonic layers. We will conduct multiple listening exercises to cultivate an awareness of sound sources, soundmarks, and the area's natural soundscape. Afterward, we will return to the campus for the second part of the session, where we will collaboratively design a soundmap, define the sonic elements we encountered, and discuss our listening experiences.

Duration: 2h 30 min.

• Approx. 1 hour walk with 3 pauses: listening exercises during the pauses.
  • Haliç Köprü Altı (Under the Haliç Bridge)
  • Eyüp Pier
  • Tekke Parkı
• Transfer from Tekke Parkı to the Campus
• 1 hour mapping and discussion.

Starting point: Balat Pier

Ending point: Eyüpsultan, around Bahariye Mevlevihane

You are free to bring your recording devices.

Excursions - 28 June 2026 Sunday

Morning Programme

Topkapı Palace Tour

On Sunday, 28 June, there will be a post-conference guided tour of Topkapı Palace, the former residence of Ottoman sultans and a treasure trove of imperial history. Full details will be shared closer to the date.

Afternoon Programme

Hagia Sophia Tour

On Sunday, 28 June, there will be a post-conference guided tour of Hagia Sophia, a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture and a symbol of İstanbul’s layered history. The tour will include access to the upper gallery of the museum/mosque. Full details will be shared closer to the date.

Image Credit: Milli Saraylar Başkanlığı and Türkiye Kültür Portalı