Fazıl Say Festival canceled due to conflict

ISTANBUL

The conflict between Fazıl Say and Gürer Aykal caused the cancelllation of the BIPO & Fazıl Say Fest.

Initiated by Borusan Sanat in the 2010-2011 season and held biannually in December, the third edition of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (BIPO) & Fazıl Say Festival scheduled for December 2014 has been canceled, according to a statement made by Borusan Sanat. The festival, conducted generally by BIPO’s Honorary Conductor Gürer Aykal featured works of pianist Fazıl Say and the artists also took place as a pianist in the event.

The festival has been canceled due to a conflict between Say and maestro Aykal after both artists made it clear they would not be able to work with each other.

“We regret to announce the cancelation of the BIPO & Fazıl Say Festival, the third edition of which was going to be held in December this year. A fruitful cooperation between Mr. Say and BIPO, the festival has always been met with great interest from the audience. After it was publicly made clear by BIPO’s honorary conductor Gürer Aykal, who has been an inseparable part of the festival, and Say that they wouldn’t be able to work together any more, we had to decide for the cancelation, respecting the artists’ decision. We are working on a new series of events in place of the festival,” said the statement.
A new series of events is being planned and will be announced in the days to come.

Reason for conflict

Say had been the artistic director of the Antalya Piano Festival for 14 years. After the local elections in March, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) lost the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality to the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) candidate Menderes Türel.

In May, Türel made a statement saying the BIPO & Fazıl Say Festival could continue without Say. Following this statement, Say resigned from his post and Türel reached an agreement with Aykal to continue the festival. Then Say made a statement saying that he would not work with Aykal from then on.