Ayangil Turkish Music Orchestra and Chorus (ATMOC)

The Ayangil Turkish Music Orchestra and Chorus (ATMOC) was established in 1983 by Ruhi Ayangil, at the request of Aydın Gün, then artistic director of the Istanbul Art Festival.

Comprising around 60 musicians, the ensemble is described as "the only private chorus and orchestra in Turkey." ATMOC brings together traditional Turkish instruments — ud, kemençe, tanbur, ney, and kanun — with instruments of the Western orchestra. Its founding musicological principles trace back to the work of early twentieth-century Turkish musicologists Rauf Yekta Bey and Hüseyin Saadettin Arel. This approach matched voices by soprano, alto, tenor, and bass color to form a proper "Koro" (chorus), rather than the traditional "Fasıl Heyeti," which did not distinguish voice types, and paired it with a "Saz Heyeti" (instrumental ensemble).

ATMOC has performed at the International Istanbul Arts Festival (Turkey) and the International Helsinki Festival (Finland), and has given concerts in Holland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and the USSR. Its 1976 concert at Rumeli Hisarı holds a particularly commemorated place in the ensemble's history.

The approximately 40-voice Acappella Grup 34, directed by Ruhi Ayangil, was founded in June 2004. Its name combines the note names from A through G with Istanbul's provincial code, "34." With Yulia Bapova and Özcan Sönmez as répétiteurs, the group gave its first concert, "Yunus Emre Konseri," at Istanbul's Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall on 5 May 2005, followed by its second concert on 13 June; from 23 to 26 June 2005 it appeared at the Alta Pusteria International Choir Festival in Italy.

ATMOC's history has been shaped by the contributions of composers Yalçın Tura, Selahaddin İçli, Cinuçen Tanrıkorur, and Fırat Kızıltuğ, alongside performers Nejdet Yaşar (tanbur), Niyazi Sayın (ney), and Aydın Oran (violin).

ATMOC remains an active, living institution today, under the chairwomanship of Hülya Ayangil.