Istanbul Music Festival to celebrate 50th anniversary in June

The 50th Istanbul Music Festival will host over 65 soloists, ensembles and orchestras from Turkey and abroad in 12 different venues for three weeks this year running from June 6 to 24.

Dedicated to the theme of Istanbul, the festival will welcome audiences to some of the most remarkable venues in the city, including the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM). This iconic example of Republican Period Turkish architecture has been rebuilt and newly opened and will host various concerts throughout the festival.

Music grows, diversifies and flourishes in environments where different cultures meet. This year's program is a tribute to Istanbul, a cosmopolitan harbor that has embraced different cultures throughout its history. The festival will present a polyphonic, multilingual and multicultural program, and through that, a reflection of the city of Istanbul.

One of the city's most remarkable composers, Fazıl Say, will welcome festival audiences with his renowned symphony "Istanbul."

The second concert that speaks to the heart of the city will be "Songs from Istanbul," presenting different faces of Istanbul with the Bosporus panorama setting a magnificent backdrop.

Very much inspired by this city and its multicultural past, Musica Sequenza will present "Rameau à la turque," where French Baroque meets Ottoman Court music.

With Mare Nostrum, the festival stage will turn towards the Mediterranean sea. French accordionist Richard Galliano, Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu and Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren will be playing the sounds of the cultures, gestures and emotions that have developed around "our sea."

Another project that will combine different cultures will be "Music Route." Gülin Ataklı, Barış Büyükyıldırım,...