which was subsequently transformed into Ankara State Conservatory. The two lecturers were offered permanent posts at the conservatory, an offer which Paul Hindemith was not able to accept. Nevertheless, he kept visiting Ankara and inspecting the activities at the music school. Carl Ebert stayed in Ankara as the director of the conservatory theatre school and opera studio for the following nine years. On May 16, 1940, the State Conservatory was firmly established under law, comprising music, opera, ballet, and theatre schools. The first performance staged by the students of the conservatory was Mozart's one-act comic opera Bastien und Bastienne, performed with Turkish text in the accompaniment of the Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra. In 1940, the second act of Puccini's Madama Butterfly was performed in Turkish by the staff of the conservatory opera studio, followed in 1941 by Tosca. The conversion of the existing Sergievi (Exhibition House) building in Ankara into an opera house was started in 1947 and the building started serving as the Ankara Opera House on April 2, 1948, with the performance of pieces composed by the Turkish Five and the premiere of Ahmet Adnan Saygun's Kerem. The organization of the opera orchestra and chorus was completed between 1950–1953. During the same period, a ballet school was established in İstanbul with prima ballerina Ninette de Valois, who appointed Molly Lake and Travis Kemp to run it. The school was later integrated into Ankara State Conservatory, giving its first graduates in 1956. Management of the theatre and the opera were separated in 1958, creating the directorates of Turkish State Theatres and State Opera and Ballet. In 1959, the İstanbul City Opera was established by the private effort of Aydın Gün, and it was nationalized in 1970 as the İstanbul State Opera and Ballet. This was followed by the establishment of İzmir State Opera and Ballet in 1983, Mersin State Opera and Ballet in 1992, Antalya State Opera and Ballet in 1999 and Samsun State Opera and Ballet in 2009. Venues Ankara Ankara Opera House (Opera Sahnesi / Büyük Tiyatro) Leyla Gencer Sahnesi Operet Sahnesi Istanbul Atatürk Cultural Center Süreyya Opera House İzmir İzmir State Opera and Ballet Mersin Mersin State Opera and Ballet Antalya Antalya State Opera and Ballet Samsun Samsun State Opera and Ballet Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival The State Opera and Ballet directorate organizes, since 1994, the annual opera and ballet festival in the ancient