Nisan Ak

Adjunct Director of Wind Ensemble, Fundamentals of Music, and Aural Skills

Education

University of South Carolina
DMA

City University of New York
MM

Performance/Recording Highlights

Selected as one of the thirty most inspiring people under the age of thirty (30 under 30) by Forbes Turkey in 2019, Nisan Ak is a rapidly rising conductor from Istanbul. She has conducted orchestras on four different continents. Her recent engagements include orchestras in cities such as Ankara, Pachuca, Atlanta, Columbia, Vienna, Pärnu, Washington DC, New York City, and more.

Ak is the founder and the music director of the Bruch Chamber Orchestra (BCO). The BCO has a unique position of being an all-female executive team, a rarity in the classical music world, all under 30. The BCO published its first album in 2022 and was listed in four worldwide playlists by Apple, hitting 100k listeners in under two months.

Besides her career in conducting, Nisan is a public advocate for the accessibility of classical music for all and women’s leadership in the workspace. She creates educational outreach videos in both English and Turkish and gives speeches about women’s visibility and leadership. These engagements include the “+90” channel of Voice of America, TedX talk in METU, short documentaries by CUNY, TRT Music, Haberturk TV, and Mercedes-Benz Turkey.

Currently, Nisan Ak is the Youth Orchestra Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and holds adjunct positions at the College of Charleston. Dr. Ak holds a master’s degree from the City University of New York and a doctorate from the University of South Carolina, both in conducting.

Courses Taught

• MUSC 146  Fundamentals of Music
• MUSC 238  Music Theory Lab (Aural Skills) I
• MUSC 239  Music Theory Lab (Aural Skills) II
• MUSC 338  Music Theory Lab (Aural Skills) III
• MUSC 339  Music Theory Lab (Aural Skills) IV
• MUSC 353  Wind Ensemble
• MUSC 358  Pep Band (Instructor of record)