The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) has concluded its events for the first half of the year and announced that Istanbul Film, Music and Jazz festivals drew great attention from their followers. The events organized by İKSV in the first seven months of 2015 were attended by 224,000 viewers. İKSV’s events will continue in the second half of the year.
The 34th Istanbul Film Festival, which took place between 4-19 April, screened a total of 171 short and feature length films across 455 screenings at 8 different theatres over the course of two weeks. The festival was attended by a total of 130,000 cinephiles and, in addition to the screenings, one concert, three master classes, and three panels were also held and attended by festival guests.
Held between 31 May and 29 June, the 43rd Istanbul Music Festival hosted close to 600 local and international artists at 13 different venues. Built upon the theme “Cultural Landscapes,” the festival program featured 27 concerts, including two world premieres and three Turkey premieres. In addition to the preconcert talks by artists and music writers, the Weekend Classics, which were free of charge and took place outdoors throughout the festival, also drew great interest. The 43rd Istanbul Music Festival reached close to 23,000 music enthusiasts.
The 22nd Istanbul Jazz Festival took place between 27 June and 15 July. The festival spread across Istanbul with 56 concerts held at 24 different venues, featuring over 250 local and international artists. Hosting the diverse voices of folk, blues, and jazz, such as Joan Baez, Jools Holland, Marcus Miller, Melody Gardot, and Tigran Hamasyan, the festival was attended by over 30,000 music enthusiasts.
Preparations continue for the second half of the year
The 14th Istanbul Biennial SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms, drafted by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, will open to the public from 5 September to 1 November 2015 in over 30 venues on the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus, and presenting over 1,500 works by over 80 participants. Organised by İKSV and made possible thanks to the sponsorship of Koç Holding, admission to the 14th Istanbul Biennial is free of charge.
Heralding the new cinema season, the 14th Filmekimi will once again take place under the sponsorship of Vodafone FreeZone, from 3 to 11 October, this year. The announcements about the programme of the 14th Filmekimi, which will be travelling to movie theatres across Turkey, has begun through Filmekimi’s social media platforms.
Known in international music circles for the young talents it brings to the world of opera, the 8th Leyla Gencer Voice Competition will be held in Istanbul in September. Following the auditions organised in six countries in Europe throughout June, young vocalists from all over the world will strive to place in the competition to be held between 6-11 September. The semi-final scheduled for Wednesday, 9 September will determine the 8 finalists, who will take to the stage in front of jury members and an audience at the finals on Friday, 11 September at the Süreyya Opera House alongside the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Antonio Pirolli. The jury for the 8th Leyla Gencer Voice Competition will be headed by Luciana Serra. The 8th Leyla Gencer Voice Competition is organised by İKSV and Accademia Teatro alla Scala, in collaboration with the Kadıköy Municipality Süreyya Opera House, Italiano di Cultura, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Poland National Opera, and with the contributions of Borusan Sanat.
