THE 21ST ISTANBUL JAZZ FESTIVAL BEGINS ON 1 JULY
THE FESTIVAL IS HOSTING A TURKISH PREMIERE DURING ITS OPENING WEEK
ZÜLFÜ LİVANELİ’S
“RUMİ SUITE-THE ETERNAL DAY” PROJECT
WILL HAVE ITS TURKEY PREMIERE
AT THE ISTANBUL JAZZ FESTIVAL
Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Arts and Culture (İKSV) and sponsored by Garanti Bank for the past 17 years, the 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival begins on 1 July. Taking place across 13 different venues until 16 July and hosting over 200 local and international acts in Istanbul, including masters like Hugh Laurie, Katie Melua, Chick Coreaand Stanley Clarke, as well as the rising stars of international jazz, such as Cécile Mclorin Salvant and Kellylee Evans, the festival will also bring the magic of jazz to the city's parks with this year's new event, “Jazz in the Parks.”
A Turkey premiere during the festival's opening week:
“Rumi Suite-The Eternal Day”
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.”
During its first week, the 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival will host the Turkey premiere of one of the country's most important artists, composer, author, and musician Zülfü Livaneli's new piece composed for poems of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, “Rumi Suite-The Eternal Day”. The concert, featuring Zülfü Livaneli as composer and including his on-stage presentations, will be taking place with the contributions of the Goethe Institut at
Sepetçiler Kasrı (Basketmakers' Kiosk) on Wednesday,2 July eveningat 21.15.
Coming to life after a two year process, Mevlana's poems were translated from Persian to English for the
“Rumi Suite-The Eternal Day” project with great care by both Mohammadamin Seyfi Ala,who also translated Zülfü Livaneli’s books into Persian and Aylin Livaneli also contributed to the translation to Turkish texts. Mevlana's words “Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there” form the piece's connecting theme (leitmotif).
“Rumi Suite-The Eternal Day”, in which Zülfü Livaneli blends jazz forms with traditional Turkish music, will be performed by a powerfulensemble that has worked with the artist many times before: The Henning Schmiedt Ensemble, led by pianist Henning Schmiedt, features famous jazz vocalist Romy Camerun, the young and successful ney (reed instrument)player Burcu Karadağ who has worked with many masterful names from Fazıl Say to SertabErener, Trilok Gurtu, and Okay Temiz, as well as Joo Kraus on trumpet, Ralph Gräßler on bass, and Uli Moritz on drums.
Describing the project's process of formation, Zülfü Livaneli says: “Over the past year, the English translations of these poems were always with me, I kept them as bedside books, always accessible. Presumably, the poems I read every single day led to a condensation, an accumulation inside me. It was as if a Mevlana river was flowing in me, incessantly day and night. Surely, this river would eventually find a way to flow outside and one day I found myself composing melodies to these poems. It was not a decision, it was a process just as is. Melodies almost gushed out, turned into a suite and after a two-year period, the
"Rumi Suite" appeared.”
The “Rumi Suite-The Eternal Day” project, which held its world premiere on 26 October 2013 at the Bremen Radio's famous Sendesaal, will be meeting with an audience for the first time in Turkey on Wednesday,2 July as part of the 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival.
Having composed over 300 pieces throughout his career and known all over the world, having shared the stage with artists such as Joan Baez, Maria Farantouri, María del Mar Bonet, Udo Lindenberg, Haris Alexiou, Jocelyn B. Smith, and Kate Westbrook, Livaneli is the recipient of this year's best album (Greece), the Edison Award (Holland), the Music Critics Guild's best album of the year, and the title of best composer at the “Premio Luigi Tenco” awards. Livaneli, whose concerts with Greek artist Mikis Theodorakis have played an important role in the relationship between the two countries, has also been a good will ambassador to UNESCO since 1996.
Tickets for the “Rumi Suite-The Eternal Day” project and other concerts that are part of the 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival may be purchased from Biletix outlets, from İKSV's main box office without a service charge, and from event venues on the day of the show. (İKSV's main box office is open on weekdays and Saturdays between the hours of 10.00-18.00.) Credit cards are a valid form of purchase and in addition to full-fare tickets, the option of discounted tickets for students will also be available for each event.
CHECK OUT THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
Jazz lovers can check out the festival programme on as well as through theİKSV Mobile application. The İKSV Mobile application, developed with the support of Vodafone Red, is available for download for free at AppStore and Google Play.
The new İKSV Library application will also allow everybody to reach the publications of all İKSV festivals and biennials on iPad. The İKSV Library application, free for download from AppStore, will have the Istanbul Jazz Festival brochure and the Istanbul Jazz Festival Magazine
Furthermore, the festival’s Facebook and Twitter pages will have the latest news and miscellaneous information on the festival.
For further information:caz.iksv.org/en
To follow the Istanbul Jazz Festival on social media:
twitter.com/istanbulcazfest
facebook.com/istanbulcazfestivali
facebook.com/genccaz
#cazgeliyor
instagram.com/istanbulcazfestivali#
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