International Istanbul Festival is one of the major festivals of Turkey. It takes place at Istanbul, the most important city of Turkey. This colorful festival is full of life. Dance, song, music make the festival awesome. To get the cultural essence people should visit Turkey during this festival.
International Istanbul Festival includes diverse annual arts festival. The International Istanbul Music Festival is held at Hagia Eirene Museum and Ataturk Cultural Center. The classical or traditional music concert is held inside the 4th-century St. Irene's Church which was made by Emperor Constantine.
The 35th International Istanbul Festival will take place in 2007. It includes a gala recital by Romanian soprano Angele Gheorghiu, who was accompanied by the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. A 100th birthday celebration of Turkish composer Ahmet Adnan Saygun also took place. Another attraction of the festival was the first performance outside Britain of Sir John Tavener's new work The Beautiful Names based on the 99 names of Allah in the Islamic tradition.
A pair of concerts given by Mariss Jansons and his Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam ends the festival. For Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23, Mitsuko Uchida joined them. Stravinsky's
The Rite of Spring was the closing concert feature of the festival.
Other than the International Istanbul Festival many other festivals include theater, film, and jazz. Several other programs run at the same time. The Istanbul Foundation for Culture arranges all these programs.
International Istanbul Festival is an integrated part of Turkey life.
