The New York Philharmonic (Soloist: Joshua Bell)

The New York Philharmonic, 3 May 2013

Haliç Congress Center, Sütlüce

Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı, the founder of the Eczacıbaşı Group and the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), will be commemorated at the 20th anniversary of his passing with two exclusive concerts. "Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Memorial Concerts", organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) under the sponsorship of Eczacıbaşı Holding, will be performed in Istanbul on 3 and 4 May by one of the oldest and best orchestras in the world, The New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert.

The first concert by The New York Philharmonic will be the European premiere of Christopher Rouse's new symphony titled "Prospero's Rooms" commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and will take place at Haliç Congress Center on Friday, 3 May at 20:30. Conducted by Alan Gilbert, the orchestra will then accompany Joshua Bell in Bernstein's "Serenade" composed for solo violin, strings, harp and percussion and conclude its programme with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.

Since the time of its foundation in 1842, The New York Philharmonic has enjoyed a worldwide reputation with 430 concerts in 63 different countries and conducted by prominent musicians including Antonín Dvořák, Gustav Mahler, Otto Klemperer, Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland. The current music director who has joined the long list of previous prominent conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta and Leonard Bernstein that led the orchestra, is Alan Gilbert. Began his conducting career with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1995 as an assistant conductor, Gilbert later worked as the music director of Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera. Since the 2009-2010 season, Gilbert assumed the musical directorship of The New York Philharmonic, which he led several times as a guest conductor before.

The New York Philharmonic will feature a world famous violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, who, with his passionate interpretations, stage charisma and versatility is known as "the superstar of classical music". Both as a soloist and a conductor, doing chamber music or recording an album, Bell produces at a consistent level of perfection. Recently, he was appointed Musical Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra and became the first conductor to assume this position since Sir Neville Marinner founded the orchestra in 1958. In addition to several awards he received, Bell was nominated for a Grammy Award for the first recording of the West Side Story Suite and his album, which included Bernstein's Serenade.

THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
3-4 May 2013, 20.30
Haliç Congress Center

Friday, 3 May

ALAN GILBERT conductor
JOSHUA BELL violin

Christopher Rouse
Prospero's Rooms (2013)*

Leonard Bernstein
Serenat (1954)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.74, "Pathétique"

Lasts 120' inc. interval.

* European premiere