SINAN THE ARCHITECT"Sinan the Architect" (c. 1489/1490 – July 17, 1588) was the chief Ottoman architect (Turkish: mimar) and civil engineer for sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III. He was responsible for the construction of more than 300 major structures and other more modest projects.His apprentices would later design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Stari Most in Mostar, and help design the Taj Mahal in the Mughal Empire.

SEDEFKAR MEHMET AGHA

Sedefkar Mehmed Agha  (about 1540 - 1617) is recorded as the Ottoman architect of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the "Blue Mosque") in Istanbul. He specialized with inlay in mother-of-pearl, giving him the surname Sedefkâr (worker in mother-of-pearl).

Later he also switched to architecture. He became a pupil of architect Mimar Sinan, Turkey's most celebrated architect, becoming his first assistant in charge of the office in the absence of Sinan.He was given the commission for the building of a walnut throne, inlaid with nacre and tortoise shell, for Ahmed I, which can be seen in the Topkapı Palace. From 1609 until 1616 he worked exclusively on the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, called the Blue Mosque because of the colour of its tile work. The design of the mosque was based on the Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom), the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture built in the 6th century, and on the work of his master, Mimar Sinan. The design of the mosque is perfectly symmetrical, with a great central dome buttressed by four semi-domes and surrounded by a number of smaller exedrae.

FAZIL SAYFazil Say, son of musicologistAhmet Say, established a substantial dual career as a pianist and composer during the 1990s. As a performer, he has won numerous competitions and has performed with some of the finest orchestras worldwide. He is also active as a jazz pianist and regularly performs at international jazz festivals. His compositions have been broadly performed and recorded, and his works are published by Schott.

He has performed with some of the world’s great orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, theConcertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, and theOrchestre National de France. His repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the contemporary and he has recorded works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, andGershwin. 

IDIL BIRET

İdil Biret (born 21 November 1941 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish concert pianist, renowned for her interpretations of the Romantic repertoire.From the age of 16, Biret played as a soloist with the most distinguished orchestras in the world including the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic, theBoston Symphony, the Leningrad Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and the Sydney Symphony. Biret also gave concerts at the festivals of Berlin, Montreal, Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Montpellier, Nohant, Persepolis, Royan and Athens.

In 1995, Biret's recordings of Chopin's entire oeuvre was awarded the "Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin" in Poland.  In 2007 she was decorated with Distinguished Service Order - Cavalry Cross by the Polish President Lech Kaczynski for her contributions to Polish culture with her recordings and performances of Chopin's music.

OSMAN HAMDİ BEY

Osman Hamdi Bey (1842 – 24 February 1910) was an Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is considered as the pioneer of the museum curator's profession in Turkey. He was the founder of Istanbul Archaeology Museums and of İstanbul Academy of Fine Arts (Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi in Turkish), known today as the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts.

BEDRI BAYKAM

One of Turkey’s internationally most well known artists and intellectuals, Bedri Baykam was born in 1957, in Ankara, Turkey. He started to paint when he was only two years old, and has had several exhibitions since the age of six in Bern, Geneva, New York, Washington, London, Rome, Munich, Stockholm, etc. during his childhood years, when he was known as a child prodigy, (wunderkind) throughout the world. He studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris from 1975 to 1980 .During this time, he also studied drama in L’Actorat, Paris. He lived in California during the years 1980 -1987, studied painting and film-making at the California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland between (1980-1983). He returned to Turkey in 1987 and has been living in Istanbul since. Baykam is one of the founders of the Turkish Plastic Arts Association (UPSD) within the International Art Association (IAA) which is a partner NGO with UNESCO. The artist has been the President of UPSD-Turkish National Committee since 2006 and he is in the Executive Committee of IAA Europe and IAA World.