Apart from being an active performer on Canadian and international stages, Beste is also a licensed music development teacher for toddlers, and also has a master’s degree and research experience in developmental and music psychology.
During the pandemic, Beste has started a bilingual video podcast series with puppets called “Tunes and Tales with Beste The Mezzo”, oriented to young children who are stuck at home during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She creates most of the puppets herself and combines the stories with pieces/tunes from operas and children’s songs with relevant themes. The videos also include ‘parent education’ moments, providing the parents with some tips on how to best support their little one’s music and language development. The project has been featured by journals and blogs both in Turkey and Canada. The episodes in Turkish have been livestreamed by Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s online Library Project.
You can follow the series via Beste’s YouTube page or on Facebook: @sopranodanmasallar or Instagram: @bestemezzo @sopranodanmasallar