09/02/2026
A warm welcome to Dr. Nisan Ak who is joining the Clark College Music Department as our theory professor and Director of Orchestra.
Dr. Ak was born in Istanbul, and holds degrees from Istanbul Bilgi University, City University of New York - Queens College, and the University of South Carolina. Selected for Forbes Türkiye’s “30 Under 30” list in 2019, Ak is recognized as one of the most versatile conductors to emerge from Turkey in recent years. She has conducted in San Francisco, Miami, Charleston, Quebec, Bursa, Ankara, and Antalya, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2021. In the 2023–24 season, she appeared with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic and the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra. Through her work with the Turkish American Orchestra, she curates programs that surprise and unite audiences, blending Turkish heritage with Western symphonic language, and commissioning new works by living composers. Dr. Ak is also a passionate educator and public communicator. She has been teaching at the College of Charleston, and creates widely viewed educational videos on platforms including TEDx, TRT Müzik, YouTube, and BorusanSanat TV. Her collaborations with brands like Kiehl’s, Doritos, and Mercedes-Benz spotlight both classical music and women in leadership.
https://nisanak.com/
