Istanbul Music Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), celebrates its 45th year. Having presented the best and most recent outputs of classical music to 3,5 million music lovers in Istanbul with 3.000 events in the past 45 years, Istanbul Music Festival will be held under the theme of “Unusual”, from 29 May to 21 June 2017.

The 45th Istanbul Music Festival will host over 600 local and international artists, including some of the world’s leading ensembles such as Russian Chamber Philarmonic St. Petersburg, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra and Ebene Quartet, remarkable soloists like Hüseyin Sermet, Fazıl Say, Alina Pogostkina and Mathias Goerne, as well as young generation artists at 15 venues in Istanbul. In its 45th year, the festival will bring a fresh breath to classical music with its creative, evocative, multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted projects on its programme. Concerts that allow interdisciplinary transitions, commissions and premieres will offer unusual experiences to audiences of all ages. This year, the Istanbul Music Festival stands out with its venue choices that relate with the concert themes. The festival will take place across 15 different venues, 8 of which will be used for the first time. Some new venues such as the Aya Yorgi Greek Orthodox Church, bomontiada, Garden of Galata Mawlawi House, Grand Bazaar, Küd Dıpo Surp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Church, Panayia Greek Orthodox Church, Sait Halim Pasha Mansion, Sakıp Sabancı Museum Fıstıklı Terrace and Zorlu PAC Drama Stage will be added to the venues that has become a classic for the festival Hagia Eirene Museum, Boğaziçi University Albert Long Hall, Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Centre, İş Sanat Concert Hall, Süreyya Opera House and Austrian Culture Forum.