Born into a music enthusiast family in Gaziantep, Onur Kahvecioğlu spent his childhood in different cities across Turkey due to his family’s occupation. While continuing his relation to music in Uludağ University Department of Music Education, he volunteered at a project that enabled kids in remote regions to have the opportunity to meet with instruments through workshops. Also, recognizing the hardships independent musicians face, Kahvecioğlu founded the Müzikist foundation, which features the motto “Art, Nature and People,” to expose children to art at a young age and support young musicians through various activities.
Müzikist works in music education and supports independent musicians. The foundation hosts Müzikist Doğa Atölyeleri (Müzikist Nature Workshops) annually named İz Bırakmayan Festival as a Carbon-Neutral Festival, sponsored by eco-friendly brands, to provide an audience and a stage which is created using only organic materials for independent artists and foster dialog between artists and other stakeholders through various workshops. Moreover, the stage features 100-percent organic products.
Müzikist also aims to help high school-aged students of Fine Arts prepare for college entrance exams via its mentorship program. In addition, the foundation empowers music teachers through various training programs and provides communication channels for teachers to support one another by sharing their knowledge and experiences. Due to limited access to art in village schools, the foundation visits these schools to introduce students to at least one field of art as part of its Anadolu Sanatdolu project and helps them observe a musical instrument, a first for many students.
Müzikist has reached more than 13,000 beneficiaries in 18 different cities since 2017. It also supported nearly 100 young independent artists and held development programs for more than 200 music teachers. The foundation organized 103 concerts, nine İz Bırakmayan Festival (Carbon-Neutral Festivals), 64 mentorship sessions, and 68 workshops on musical culture and theory.
Onur Kahvecioğlu continues to provide professional development opportunities for students and musicians, introduce art to children living in isolated areas, and change the lives of thousands through Müzikist.