The 47th Istanbul Music Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) under the sponsorship of E.C.A. Presdöküm Sanayii A.Ş., took off on Tuesday, 11 June with the opening ceremony and concert held at the Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Yeşim Gürer Oymak, Gaye Akçen, Bülent Eczacıbaşı, Efruz Çakırkaya, Görgün Taner
In its 47th edition, the Istanbul Music Festival takes on the title of Darkness of Being, Lightness of Being, to draw attention to the impact of dualities such as good and bad, happiness and sadness, birth and death on music and its paths of creation. Until 30 June, the festival will house 22 concerts in 15 venues, presenting 150 pieces from a diverse repertoire that spans the masters of Baroque music Bach, Vivaldi and Handel; one the most striking composers of the 20th century Shostakovich; klezmer induced jazz, and Ottoman classical music. The festival will be a stage for various other events such as pre-concert talks, workshops and free weekend concerts.
Click to view the festival programme.
Presented by Ceylan Saner, the 47th Istanbul Music Festival’s Opening Ceremony took off with the opening speech of İKSV Chairman Bülent Eczacıbaşı. In his speech, Bülent Eczacıbaşı said: ‘The Istanbul Music Festival is Istanbul's longest-running classical music festival. Since 1973, without interruption, the festival has sought to enrich the cultural life of Istanbul, contribute new works to the world's cultural legacy through commissions, and support young talent. Once again, the festival features new compositions, exciting orchestras, star soloists, and young talent. As always, many of our concerts will take place in Istanbul's historical venues, revealing once again the great wealth and diversity of our city's cultural assets. Through free weekend events aimed at music lovers of every age, our festival will reach broad segments of the public.
As we approach the 50th anniversary of our foundation and first festival, we are proud of our achievements and excited and hopeful about our future goals. For helping us realise our achievements and giving us the strength to aim for more, I would like to convey my deepest appreciation to our audiences, to every musician taking part in this festival and to all of our supporters and sponsors.’
Chairwoman of the Elginkan Community and E.C.A. Presdöküm Sanayii A.Ş. Gaye Akçen received a gratitude plaque on behalf of the Festival Sponsor, E.C.A Presdöküm Sanayii A.Ş. In her speech, Akçen said: ‘As Elginkan Association, we continue our existence for 68 years with our strong support to cultural activities and education. As our great leader Atatürk said on 14 October 1925 in İzmir at Teacher's Training School For Girls, “Music is not part of life, it is life itself. Because 'Life is Music.' The only creature involved in music is human. A life without music is not already possible. Music is the joy, soul, delight and everything of life.” Being together with art, the artist and art lovers, to make room for beauty and to support the development of art are among our basic principles... In accordance with our principles, we are glad to undertake the sponsorship of the Istanbul Music Festival for the fourth time.’
Gratitude plaques were presented to the authorities of Beyoğlu Municipality, Kadıköy Municipality, Boğaziçi University, İş Sanat and Zorlu PSM for their venue support to the festival. Special gratitude was extended to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey.
Türkiye İş Bankası, Borusan Holding, ICBC Turkey Bank A.Ş., FIAT, Mercedes-Benz Türk A.Ş. Tekfen Foundation, the performance sponsors of the 47th Istanbul Music Festival who has an immense contribution towards the realisation of the event and the Istanbul Music Festival 2019-2022 Opening Concert Orchestra Tekfen Philarmonic Orchestra were presented with gratitude plaques.
The festival’s Honorary Award was presented to conductor Prof. Rengim Gökmen
The 47th Istanbul Music Festival’s Honorary Award was presented to the conductor Prof. Rengim Gökmen. Rengim Gökmen’s award was presented by İKSV Chairman, Bülent Eczacıbaşı.
Click for detailed information about Rengim Gökmen.
The 2018 Aydın Gün Encouragement Award was presented to young pianist Can Çakmur
Awarded every year since 2012 by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) to promising young classical musicians, the Aydın Gün Encouragement Award of 15,000 TL was granted to the 22 year-old pianist Can Çakmur in its seventh edition. Can Çakmur’s award was presented by İKSV Chairman, Bülent Eczacıbaşı.
Click for detailed information about Can Çakmur.
Festival’s Opening Concert: Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra and Seong-Jin Cho
The 47th Istanbul Music Festival opened with the concert of the young pianist Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, and the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra, festival’s Opening Concert Orchestra for 2019-2022. The 24 year-old Seong-Jin Cho has risen fast on the international arena since 2015, playing with prestigious orchestras around the world and receiving rave reviews for his albums. The pianist, who made his Turkey debut at the festival’s opening night, reunited with conductor Aziz Shokhakimov after their performance with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra last year. Seong Jin-Cho performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. I in C Major, op. 15, whereas Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra performed Franz Liszt’s Symphonic Poem No.3, ‘Les Préludes’.
