Istanbul Music Festival returns with full program

The 43rd Istanbul Music Festival is returning for another year this weekend with some of the most celebrated figures in the world of classical music.

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (?KSV), will start on May 31 with the opening ceremony and concert to be held at the Lütfi K?rdar Convention and Exhibition Center. 

The festival will continue until June 29 with the theme "Cultural Landscapes," hosting close to 600 local and international artists in Istanbul, including names such as Yuri Bashmet, Boris Berezovsky, Emmanuelle Haïm, Angela Hewitt, Paavo Jarvi, Kim Kashkashian, Gidon Kremer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Faz?l Say, Christian Tetzlaff and Yuja Wang, as well as some of the world's leading ensembles, including the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Franz List Chamber Orchestra, the Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra, and the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. 

As this year's festival's resident guest orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen will be putting on two concerts. The festival program will present 27 concerts featuring chamber orchestras, vocal concerts and recitals, as well as two world premieres and three Turkey premieres.

The festival venues include the Hagia Irene Museum, Heybeliada Hagia Triada Monastery, St. Antoine Church, Süreyya Opera House, the Austrian Cultural Office, Surp Vortvots Vorodman Church, ?? Sanat Concert Hall, the Lütfi K?rdar Convention and Exhibition Center, and Bo?aziçi University's Albert Long Hall. The free open-air concert series of the festival, "Weekend Classics," will welcome viewers at the Garden of the Consulate General of Netherlands, the Selamiçe?me Freedom Park, the Sak?p Sabanc? Museum Garden and the Austrian Cultural Office Garden. 

   ...