After the Republican period, most of the Western music repertoire entered Turkish archives from schools and related institutions. The lack of international music was felt more in time and the state supported musicians to overcome this deficiency. Those musicians are:

Yesarizade Necip Pasa (1815-1883),Dikran Cuhaciyan (1836-1898),Haci Emin Efendi (1845-1907), Edgar Manas (1875-1904),Osman Zeki Ungor (1880-1958) Cemal Resit Rey(1904-1985),Hasan Ferit Alnar (1906-1978),Ulvi Cemal Erkin (1906- 1972),Ahmet Adnan Saygun (1907-1991), Necil Kazim Akses (1908- ),Kemal Ilerici (1910-1986), Ekrem Zeki Un (1910-1985), Bulent Tarcan (1914- ), Bulent Arel (1919- ), Sabahattin Kalender (1919- ), Ilhan Usmenbay (1921- ), Nevit Kodalli (1924- ), Muammer Sun (1932- ), Ilhan Baran (1934- ), Yalcin Tura (1934- ), Ilhan Mimaroglu (1926- ), Cetin Isikozlu, Ozan Dizmen, Istemihan Taviloglu, Turgay Erdener, Burhan Onder and Ertugrul Bayraktar.

The composers Cemal Resit Rey, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ahmet Adnan Saygun and Necil Kazim Akses are known as "The Turkish Five".

Kemal Ilerici worked to set up a national school of musical style in 1944, by adapting the melodies of traditional Turkish folk music classical "art" music and a method was developed to create polyphonic music to fit Turkish tastes. While traditional western harmony, as in most European folk melodies, depends on thirds, for example, with a "la" (F), "do" which is its third and "mi" the third of "do" are considered harmonious, most Turkish melodies depend on fourths (e.g.: la-re) and fifths (e.g.: la-mi) and consequently a new system taking this into consideration, put forward that "re" and "mi" notes should be considered harmonious. Shortly affer he presented his theory and started to make it known to his close friends like Bulent Arel, ˜lhan Usmanbas and Nedim V. Otyam, Ilerici, who had been sacked from his post at the State School of Music in Ankara (1949), and consequently became a lycee teacher, continued to teach his theory at his house to those who wanted to learn and conveyed his ideas to young composers among whom were Muammer Sun, Ilhan Baran, Cengiz Tanc, Sarper Ozsan, Necati Gedikli and Ertugrul Bayraktar. He also influenced students and a wide circle around him with his book: "Composers' Book of Turkish Music and Harmony" (1970). However, the first ballet "score" "Coban Yildizi" ("Venus") was performed in Izmir in 1983 (1) written, using Ilerici's method, by Necdet Levent who had learned the technique from Muammer Sun.

Istanbul - Haghia Eirene ; a Byzantine church, is being used for productions of Istanbul Festival

Besides composers, there are famous musicians who have represented Turkey with great success, namely: Suna Kan (violin), Verda Erman (piano), Idil Biret (piano), and the Guher-Suher Pekinel sisters (piano duo).

Every year, musical contests and festivals are organized in different provinces and districts of Turkey. The most important are the International Istanbul Culture and Arts Festival, Ankara International Culture and Arts Festival, Ankara Opera Days, and Izmir Cesme Festival of Pop Music.