The Young Jazz+ 25 album
The Young Jazz+ project released its fifth album, Young Jazz+ 25, with the support of the İKSV Young Artist Fund in collaboration with Universal Music Türkiye. For the album, the groups entered the studio to record their original compositions under the mentorship of experienced musicians, selected in line with their musical styles. Sinan Sakızlı mentored pûr and Leviers; Selen Gülün worked with calico and Fuji; Ayşe Tütüncü mentored Triosu; and Zeynep Oktar worked with KAOS during the recording process. Recording, mixing and mastering were handled by Sinan Sakızlı, while the group photographs were taken by Mete Kaan Özdilek. Further details about the album are available here.
The 53rd Istanbul Music Festival
As part of the festival’s ongoing programme of commissioning new works in classical music, a new composition by Ceren Türkmenoğlu was commissioned this year. Türkmenoğlu’s work received its world premiere at the Women Stars of Tomorrow concert. The concert was accompanied by a live visual performance by visual artist Hilal Can, which was supported by the İKSV Young Artist Fund.
Cité des Arts Artist-in-Residence Programme
Since 2009, İKSV has been offering artists from Türkiye the opportunity to live and work in Paris for three-month periods through the Türkiye Studio at Cité des Arts, which it has leased for twenty years. In 2025, the Türkiye Studio hosted Ezgi Yakın from January to March, Gizem Karakaş from April to June, Hilal Can from July to September, and Begüm Yamanlar from October to December, with the support of the İKSV Young Artist Fund.
Three productions from the 29th Istanbul Theatre Festival programme
Launched by the Istanbul Theatre Festival in 2024 to support young artists in realising bold new ideas, the New Searches selection continued this year with the support of the İKSV Young Artist Fund, contributing to the diversity of the festival programme. Ferdi Çetin’s While Pondering on the Origins of Private Property in Front of the TV, I Fell Asleep and Woke to My Father’s Voice, The Hellflower staged by Kadro Pa, and How to Marry Jonas by Reka Kolektif were the New Searches productions of 2025.
For further information on the artists who have benefited from the İKSV Young Artist Fund, launched in 2025, as well as on application opportunities, please click here.