Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates 25th anniversary
ISTANBUL
The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (BIPO), which has reached over 350,000 listeners in Türkiye and more than 20,000 abroad through its concerts, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
According to a statement, the orchestra that has shared the stage with nearly 40 guest conductors and over 500 soloists in its performances, will go on a five-concert tour in the U.K. and release an album to mark its 25th anniversary.
"We began our journey 25 years ago with the dream of Ahmet Kocabıyık. We are happy and proud. BIPO is a talented and passionate ensemble. As long as it continues its work with the same enthusiasm and determination, it will exist as a symphonic group that is mentioned with pride. BIPO’s 25-year success is also a gift to Borusan, which stands behind the orchestra with belief and determination as it celebrates its 80th anniversary," said Zeynep Hamedi, the chair of the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation.
Aydın Dorsay, Borusan's Artistic Director, mentioned that since he began working at Borusan Arts in 2010, he has been part of BIPO's musical journey, highlighting the many concerts, tours, and album recordings they have accomplished together over the past 15 years.
The history of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra dates back to the Borusan Chamber Orchestra, which was the first cultural and artistic initiative of Borusan Holding. Celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, Borusan's efforts to establish an orchestra began in 1993 under the leadership of Borusan Holding's Chairman of the Board Ahmet Kocabıyık, and Professor Saim Akçıl was appointed as the orchestra's conductor.
One of Türkiye’s first private orchestras, BIPO transitioned into the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (BİFO) in 1999 through the initiatives of Ahmet Kocabıyık and Gürer Aykal. Since then, its conductors included Professor Gürer Aykal, Sascha Goetzel and Carlo Tenan. Following Goetzel who worked between 2009 and 2020, Tenan took on the roles of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor last season.
Primarily continuing its concerts in Istanbul, BIPO has also performed for music lovers in Ankara, İzmir, Eskişehir, Bodrum, Diyarbakır, Erzurum and many other cities. Over the years, it has aimed to innovate its repertoire and expand its experience beyond Türkiye, and performed concerts in Salzburg, Montpellier, Athens, Vienna, Friedrichshafen, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Hong Kong, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Zurich, Ljubljana and Essen.
In addition to its regular season concerts and tours, BIPO records an album every two years. To date, it has released eight albums featuring rarely performed works through Onyx, Deutsche Grammophon and Prospero. This season, it will release a new album that has just been completed.
The orchestra has also been part of an important social responsibility project for a long time. In the "Special Concert" event, a well-known figure from the business or art world conducted the orchestra, and the proceeds from the concerts were used as scholarships to talented young musicians for their higher education abroad.
New season
The orchestra’s concerts in the 2024-2025 season will continue to be broadcast via Borusan Klasik radio and the online digital platform "borusansanat.tv."
Under the direction of honorary conductor Gürer Aykal, artistic director and permanent conductor Carlo Tenan, as well as Laurence Equilbey and Nil Venditti, BIPO will share the stage with Helene Walter, Alena Baeva, Chloe Ji-Yeong Mun, Marco Vergini, Marlis Petersen, Enrico Pace, Jan Mracek, Çağ Erçağ, Can Çakmur and Ziyu He.
As part of the concert program that ends in May, BIPO will spend April on tour in the U.K. Conducted by Tenan, BIPO will accompany cellist Pablo Ferrandez in five concerts, performing works by Franz Schubert, Camille Saint-Saens, Ludwig van Beethoven and Ferit Tüzün in Perth, Edinburgh, London, Guildford and Sheffield, respectively.
As part of the concert program that ends in May, BIPO will spend April on a tour in the United Kingdom. Conducted by Tenan and accompanied by cellist Pablo Ferrandez, BIPO will perform five concerts in Perth, Edinburgh, London, Guildford and Sheffield, featuring works by Franz Schubert, Camille Saint-Saëns, Ludwig van Beethoven and Ferit Tüzün.