Istanbul Music Fest turns 40 this year

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Lara Melda performed at the 40th year celebration of the Istanbul Music Festival.

The Istanbul Music Festival, the first festival held by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), celebrated its 40th anniversary with a cocktail party Feb. 27 at the Turkish Embassy in London.

Istanbul Music Festival Director Yeşim Gürer Oymak said the event was the only festival organized in both Europe and Asia. “There were many events from England during the festival that was dedicated to this country in 2000. In this way, we made the festival one of the most important ones in Europe,” she said.
Oymak said they had chosen two cities, London and Berlin, for the 40th anniversary promotion of the Istanbul Music Festival, adding that the event in Berlin would take place March 15.

“Now we are thinking of a Turkey Week in England and about how we can promote our artists there because England is a hard market. The entire world wants to enter to it. If we can make close relations with organizations, we can create a very important platform to promote our artists,” Oymak said.

The event ended with the screening of a video showcasing the 40 years of the Istanbul Music Festival. The 40th Istanbul Music Festival will be organized from May 31 to June 29 and host more than 750 Turkish and foreign artists.

Among the attendees were Turkish Ambassador to London Ünal Çeviköz; the director of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in London, Tolga Tüylüoğlu; Borusan Culture and Arts General Director Ahmet Erenli; cellist Leonard Elschenbroich; pianist Alexei Grynyuk; violinist Nicola Benedetti and pianist Ayşe Deniz Gökçin and Lara Melda. Musicians from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the New London Consort attended the ceremony