Dr. Selim Giray serves as Music Director and Conductor of Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra and PSU Chamber Orchestra and Associate Professor of Violin and Viola at Pittsburg State University. Between the years of 2000 and 2003, Dr. Giray taught at Interlochen Arts Camp. As a violinist, Dr. Giray has performed extensively in four continents, and has appeared frequently on the radio and television. He has performed as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Between 2007 and 2011, he served as Concertmaster and Assistant Conductor of The Ohio Light Opera, and performed on six CD's as Concertmaster. In December of 2011, Selim Giray has performed a violin and piano recital at the Carnegie Hall with Dr. Gulimina Mahamuti.
Most recently, Giray's article for the American String Teacher—the peer reviewed quarterly journal of the American String Teachers Association—appeared in the February 2012 issue. The article is titled “Utilize Your Technical String Knowledge to Improve Your Conducting” and is based on Giray's recent presentation at the American String Teachers Association’s 2011 National Conference in Kansas City. Giray has interviewed Eliot Chapo for The Strad (July 2010). Also, he recorded a CD, titled Turkish Music for Violin & Piano for ERMMedia with pianist Dr. June Chun-Young (2010, distributed by Naxos). In addition, he recently edited Adnan Saygun's violin concerto for the Peermusic Classical Europe. In 2003 Edwin Mellen Press published Dr. Giray's treatise, titled A Biography of the Turkish Composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun and a Discussion of his Violin Works. The Ministry of Culture of Turkey published the same work in Turkish, with a preface by then Minister of Culture, Istemihan Talay.
Most recently, Dr. Giray performed Vivaldi's La Primavera with the Southern Symphony Orchestra in Joplin, Missouri, Dvořák's violin concerto with the Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra, and "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" by Camille Saint-Saëns, and "Poème" by Ernest Chausson with Hays Symphony Orchestra. During the summer of 2008, he visited Asunción, Paraguay for master classes and performed the violin concerto of Emre Aracı with the Camerata Orchestra. In 2004, Dr. Giray received the Rotary Foundation International’s prestigious Ambassadorial grant, which sponsored him to teach throughout the summers of 2006–07 at Istanbul Technical University [Istanbul International Spectral Music Conference] in Istanbul, Turkey. In the summer of 2006, as part of his teaching, Dr. Giray was the only professor to have the honor of giving master classes with the foremost Turkish violinist, Prof. Cihat Aşkın at the CAKA project [Young Friends of Cihat Aşkın]. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Giray performed at the 34th International Istanbul Music Festival as a member of Istanbul Chamber Orchestra. Also, he played as Acting Concertmaster of Istanbul Chamber Orchestra in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he performed in front of an elite audience of foreign dignitaries. During that trip, Dr. Giray gave lectures and master classes at Istanbul Technical University, Bilkent University, and Yıldız University in Turkey, and Edison Academy in Germany.
As a doctoral candidate at the Florida State University, Selim Giray studied with Eliot Chapo, former Concertmaster of such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony. Prior to that, in 1992 he was awarded a joint fellowship from the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and East Carolina University, where he studied with Fritz Gearhart. A native of Istanbul, Selim Giray graduated from Istanbul State Conservatory and Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory, where he studied with Saim Akçıl.
During his tenure at Pittsburg State University, Giray has recruited international students, including Paraguay, Romania, China, South Korea, and Turkey. Within the years his students have won numerous competitions, including various Concerto-Aria and Chamber Music Competitions, and the coveted American String Teachers Association Solo Competition—Winner of 2006 Kansas Chapter. Dr. Giray’s students have been accepted in graduate programs at Yale, Rice, the University of Oklahoma, and the Florida State University with assistantships, and received the Fulbright Scholarship. Some are members of orchestras including the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Kansas City Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony. Selim Giray performs on an exquisite violin made by master luthier Anton Krutz.
Most recently, Giray's article for the American String Teacher—the peer reviewed quarterly journal of the American String Teachers Association—appeared in the February 2012 issue. The article is titled “Utilize Your Technical String Knowledge to Improve Your Conducting” and is based on Giray's recent presentation at the American String Teachers Association’s 2011 National Conference in Kansas City. Giray has interviewed Eliot Chapo for The Strad (July 2010). Also, he recorded a CD, titled Turkish Music for Violin & Piano for ERMMedia with pianist Dr. June Chun-Young (2010, distributed by Naxos). In addition, he recently edited Adnan Saygun's violin concerto for the Peermusic Classical Europe. In 2003 Edwin Mellen Press published Dr. Giray's treatise, titled A Biography of the Turkish Composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun and a Discussion of his Violin Works. The Ministry of Culture of Turkey published the same work in Turkish, with a preface by then Minister of Culture, Istemihan Talay.
Most recently, Dr. Giray performed Vivaldi's La Primavera with the Southern Symphony Orchestra in Joplin, Missouri, Dvořák's violin concerto with the Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra, and "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" by Camille Saint-Saëns, and "Poème" by Ernest Chausson with Hays Symphony Orchestra. During the summer of 2008, he visited Asunción, Paraguay for master classes and performed the violin concerto of Emre Aracı with the Camerata Orchestra. In 2004, Dr. Giray received the Rotary Foundation International’s prestigious Ambassadorial grant, which sponsored him to teach throughout the summers of 2006–07 at Istanbul Technical University [Istanbul International Spectral Music Conference] in Istanbul, Turkey. In the summer of 2006, as part of his teaching, Dr. Giray was the only professor to have the honor of giving master classes with the foremost Turkish violinist, Prof. Cihat Aşkın at the CAKA project [Young Friends of Cihat Aşkın]. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Giray performed at the 34th International Istanbul Music Festival as a member of Istanbul Chamber Orchestra. Also, he played as Acting Concertmaster of Istanbul Chamber Orchestra in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he performed in front of an elite audience of foreign dignitaries. During that trip, Dr. Giray gave lectures and master classes at Istanbul Technical University, Bilkent University, and Yıldız University in Turkey, and Edison Academy in Germany.
As a doctoral candidate at the Florida State University, Selim Giray studied with Eliot Chapo, former Concertmaster of such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony. Prior to that, in 1992 he was awarded a joint fellowship from the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and East Carolina University, where he studied with Fritz Gearhart. A native of Istanbul, Selim Giray graduated from Istanbul State Conservatory and Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory, where he studied with Saim Akçıl.
During his tenure at Pittsburg State University, Giray has recruited international students, including Paraguay, Romania, China, South Korea, and Turkey. Within the years his students have won numerous competitions, including various Concerto-Aria and Chamber Music Competitions, and the coveted American String Teachers Association Solo Competition—Winner of 2006 Kansas Chapter. Dr. Giray’s students have been accepted in graduate programs at Yale, Rice, the University of Oklahoma, and the Florida State University with assistantships, and received the Fulbright Scholarship. Some are members of orchestras including the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Kansas City Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony. Selim Giray performs on an exquisite violin made by master luthier Anton Krutz.
