Hicran
July 10, 2012

The historic region of Cappadocia is preparing to host a one-month-long series of chamber music concerts and workshops on the occasion of the “Klasik Keyifler” (Classical Pleasures) music festival.

The festival, now in its fourth year, will take place between July 25 and Aug. 22 in a range of venues including caves, galleries, courtyards, cellars and monasteries in the area, which is a popular destination for tourists worldwide.

This year, “Klasik Keyifler” will host over 100 musicians from the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Syria, Greece and the US in programs ranging from Ottoman classics to premieres of new compositions.

“Klasik Keyifler,” which features 20 concerts and seven workshops this year, is a project initiated by American violinist Ellen Jewett and her Turkish husband, Hüsam Süleymangil. First held in 2008, the festival is designed to offer a spiritual retreat for artists, a creative portal for music students and a source of inspiration for audience members in a unique place beloved by both Turks and tourists.

Participating ensembles from abroad and Turkey include the Ricciotti Ensemble, members of the Atlas Ensemble, the Anatolia Ensemble, Idée Fixe and the Ankara University Soloists. There will also be master classes for the oboe with Ernest Rombout from the Amsterdam-based Nieuw Ensemble, the flute with Elena Cecconi from the Geneva Conservatory of Music, the clarinet with Nusret İspir from the Ankara-based Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and the violin with Harald Herzl the Mozarteum Academy of Music in Salzburg and with Ruşen Güneş from the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Between Aug.1-14, there will be a series called “From the Composers’ Cauldron,” featuring new and recent works by Stephen Hartke, Kamran İnce and Onur Türkmen and 13 selected composers from the workshops with these three musicians.

Cyrille van Poucke, principal trumpeter of the Dutch Radio Orchestra, will join Turkish composer Tolga Zafer Özdemir for a special class in creative music-making and improvisational techniques.