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Necil Kâzım Akses was a member of the The Turkish Five group, the pioneer and founding generation of composers of contemporary Turkish music. Son of Mehmet Kâzım, director in communication services at the Ministry of War and Emine Hanım, professor of literature and Directress at Kandilli Girls’ High School (İstanbul), Necil Kâzım Akses began to play the violin in his primary school years and at the age of fourteen became a student of cello, his instructors being Mesud Cemil and Sezai Asal. In the final years of his education at the İstanbul Lycée, he attended the classes (harmony) at the İstanbul Municipal Conservatory (Darülelhan) of Cemal Reşid Rey, who later was to become the senior member of the Turkish Five group. After graduating from high school in 1926, he was sent by his parents to Vienna to study music. In the Vienna Music Academy, he became a student of Joseph Marx in composition and of Walther Kleinecke in cello. A year later, he gained a scholarship offered by the Turkish Government. He received his masters degree from this Academy and continued his musical studies at the Prague State Conservatory, from where he obtained his advanced degrees. At the Prague Conservatory, masters such as Josef Suk and Alois Haba were his teachers. Necil Kâzım Akses returned home in 1934. The same year, he was appointed professor and Deputy Director in the School of Music Instructors in Ankara. In the following two years, he assisted German composer Paul Hindemith, who was invited to Turkey by the Ministry of Education for the establishment of the Ankara State Conservatory. He was appointed teacher of composition in 1936 to this newly established institution. The same year, he joined a research expedition carried out in Osmaniye, a borough of Adana, together with Bela Bartok, Adnan Saygun and Ulvi Cemal Erkin. In the various stages of his career, he also rendered his services as administrator to some important cultural and artistic institutions in Turkey: in 1948, he was appointed director of the Conservatory and in 1949 became the Director General of the Fine Arts of the Ministry of National Education. He acted as a Cultural Attaché in Bern in 1954 and in Bonn between 1955 and 1957. Between 1958-1960, he was the Director General of The State Opera and Ballet. In 1971, he undertook the same position again until his retirement in 1972. In 1971, Necil Kâzım Akses was elected as the founding member of the board of directors as well as Acting President of Centre Med
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