Choir Days to host audiences for free

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The fifht Choir Days will host choirs from 21 choirs from various countries.

The fifth International Istanbul Choir Days will host 21 choirs from Denmark, Greece, Spain, Estonia and Turkey Nov. 14 to 19. The festival will open with the Ladies & Gentlemen Istanbul Choir and Estonian Canorus Choir at Mustafa Kemal Amphitheater on Istanbul Technical University’s Maçka campus. The other concert venues will be Notre Dame de Sion High School, Beyoğlu Üç Horon Church and St. Esprit Church.

International Istanbul Choir Days Festival is a noncompetitive festival open to any kind of choir with free repertoire.

Other events

A seminar titled “Ottoman-Turkish Music: A journey from past to present” will supplement the performances. Attendees will be informed about the basic characteristics of Ottoman-Turkish music and its historical evolution. Traditional Turkish musical instruments will be introduced live.

Another seminar, “Istanbul, the Last Capital,” covers music and entertainment life during the years 1870 to 1920, the final five decades of the 1600 years Istanbul was capital of two great empires (the Byzantine and Ottoman empires).

A workshop, “Choral Singing and Training,” will be held by world-famous Dutch conductor Wim van Herk. Herk will also teach a master class on choral conducting for the participant choirs’ conductors.
The festival events, which will end with a concert by the Bosphorus Jazz Choir, will be free of charge.