§  Giray captivated the audience…dazzled with spectacular cadenzas…and communicated both intense passion and serene bliss.  

Ruth Firestone The Hays Daily News review of Giray’s performance of "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" by Camille Saint-Saëns, and "Poème" by Ernest Chausson with the Hays Symphony Orchestra (10/20/2008).


§ Therefore the new critical edition of Saygun’s violin concerto, Op. 44, published by Peermusic, including a hitherto non-existing piano reduction of the orchestral accompaniment, by the eminent academic and violin professor Dr. Selim Giray and composer Dr. John Ross is a significant contribution to Saygun studies and fills an important gap. The preparation of the new edition of the Op. 44 violin concerto is not the only contribution to Saygun studies of Dr. Selim Giray, who serves as Associate Professor of Violin, Viola and Chamber Music at Pittsburg State University. He has already published an excellent study in this field entitled A Biography of the Turkish Composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun and a Discussion of his Violin Works (Edwin Mellen Press, 2003), which was also published in Turkish by the Turkish Ministry of Culture in 2002, Ahmed Adnan Saygun’un Keman Yapıtları: Bir Kemancıya Rehber. Available in most libraries, the English edition is the most readily accessible reference source on Saygun to date. As an active performer on the violin, leading a solo as well as an orchestral career, Giray has also made important contributions to the contemporary Turkish violin repertoire through his pioneering CD recordings.

Dr. Emre Aracı. Originally published in Turkish:“Giray ve Ross'un yeni Saygun keman konçertosu edisyonu,” in Andante, 37 (December 2008–January 2009): 96–97.  [Turkish music historian and composer Dr. Emre Aracı has published extensively on Adnan Saygun including a definitive biography of the composer.]

§ The book we are presenting to you, Ahmed Adnan Saygun’un Keman Yapıtları: Bir Kemancıya Rehber, is an original treatise in its field… I congratulate mister Giray for this successful work, and thank everyone who contributed in the publication of this book.  

An excerpt from the preface by M. İstemihan Talay, former Minister of Culture of Turkey
Ankara, Turkey

§ Your invaluable research allowed Saygun’s violin works into the world of musicologists, and in my opinion, made a wonderful contribution…  Congratulations on your work.
 
Cihat Aşkın
Professor of Violin and Head of String Department
Turkish State Music Conservatory
Istanbul Technical University
Istanbul, Turkey