Istanbul to Host 34th International Music Festival in June

The 34th International Istanbul Music Festival will run from 8 to 24 June, according to Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) Chairman Sakir Eczacibasi, who announced the program at a press conference. This year's edition is themed around Mozart's 250th birth anniversary.

The festival opens on 8 June with a concert by the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, led by conductor Joseph Wolfe, at Hagia Eirene Museum. On 22 and 24 June, Mozart's opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio" will be staged at Topkapi Palace in a modern staging by Yekta Kara.

Grammy-winning Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli will perform on 18, 20, and 22 July at Hagia Eirene Museum, accompanied by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, in concerts linked to the festival program.

Jazz pianist Chick Corea, one of today's leading figures in the genre, will appear with his chamber orchestra on 4 July for a concert titled "In the Spirit of Mozart," blending classical and jazz in tribute to the composer.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2006, in its own words.