ARCHIV ORIENTÁLNÍ 89, 2021 • 63 ArOr – Issue 89.1 ISSN 0044-8699 © 2021 Oriental Institute (CAS), Prague Music in Early Twentieth-Century Istanbul: Reconsidering the Role of Private Music Schools * Onur Öner Abstract This study addresses the social history of music in early twentieth-century Ottoman Istanbul. The paper argues that private music schools were at the center of transfor- mations in music and that their history is profoundly related to the political crises the Ottoman state experienced after the turn of the twentieth century. More precisely, by approaching the Ottoman bureaucracy from a musical perspective, the paper tries to link the reorganization of the Ottoman bureaucracy in 1909 with the emergence of pri- vate music schools in Istanbul. To explore the process, the paper follows some ofcial functionaries’ career paths to explain their concentration in these schools. In contrast to conventional historiography, the aim is to emphasise that out of the political crises, private music schools emerged as a new ground in music. By paying limited attention to musical aspects, the study will mainly address the social roles these schools occupied in Ottoman urban life. They were practically social organizations, whose members pur- sued common goals. Collective action, such a fundamental shift of mindset on the part of the musicians, facilitated the advancement of the status of musicians in Ottoman urban society and decreased uncertainty about the future of the profession. Moreover, the institutional identity provided by the schools changed the place of women in music by increasing their visibility as music teachers and performers. Keywords Late Ottoman Istanbul | music schools | musicians | bureaucracy | biography Dr. Onur Öner (onur.ioa@gmail.com) is an independent scholar from Istanbul, Turkey. * I would like to thank Professor Cem Behar and both reviewers of this article for their critical comments and constructive advice. I would also like to thank the executive editor of Archiv orientalni Anna Křivánková for her positive collaboration during the coronavirus outbreak. DOI: 10.47979/aror.j.89.1.63-84