Turkey: Construction workers get classical music treat

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – In a special treat for hardworking manual laborers, Turkey’s Presidential Symphony Orchestra gave an intimate performance for construction workers sweating to complete a new concert hall in the capital Ankara.

On Twitter, the orchestra on Wednesday shared around 30 seconds of video of the concert – featuring Mozart’s “A Little Night Music” – showing the troupe playing for assembled construction workers.

“The Presidential Symphony Orchestra gave a concert of appreciation to the laborers working on the new concert hall construction,” wrote the symphony orchestra.

A full video will be posted later on the orchestra’s social media accounts, including YouTube, it added.

In the video, orchestra musicians are clad in hardhats and vests while workers watch the performance while abiding by social distance rules.

Last year, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the construction of the concert hall will be finished within a year, 28 years after it started.

The new facility will boast two halls with a capacity of 2,500 people, a backstage, and a VIP lounge.