The Polish-Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki
performs at the AKM on October 23
Image: Deutsche Grammophon
Atatürk Cultural Centre (‘AKM’)
Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2,
Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul
Events at this venue
Tel: +90 212 372 50 00
The Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’), located in Taksim Square and run by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is Istanbul’s premier and most capacious venue for concerts, also hosting theatre and ballet performances. Reopened in October 2021 after being completely rebuilt, the complex now includes a number of spaces dedicated to various functions plus a restaurant and various cafés. During the interval at a performance you can get tea, coffee and basic snacks in a large space with seating accommodation on the lower ground floor. Note that the ticket office is not in the main building, but in a kiosk to the left.
The main concert hall is the Türk Telekom Opera Hall (Türk Telekom Opera Salonu), which has a seating capacity of 2040. The AKM complex also includes a Theatre Hall (Tiyatro Salonu) seating 781, a Multipurpose Hall (Çok Amaçlı Salon) with a seating capacity of 170 and a ‘Culture Route’ (Kültür Yolu) containing the AKM Music Platform (AKM Müzik Platformu), a Children’s Art Centre (Çocuk Sanat Merkezi), an Exhibition Hall (Sergi Salonu) and a cinema. Seen from the foyer (fuaye), the Türk Telekom Opera Hall looks like a dark red blood orange with a coruscated and lacquered outer shell; 15,000 specially-manufactured ceramic tiles were used in this shell’s construction. The acoustics in the Opera Hall are adequate, but only if you sit somewhere close to the middle of the auditorium (either on the ground floor or on one of the balconies) rather than tucked away at one of its sides.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3
Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Yekwon Sunwoo
In this, one of the events of the 2026 Kültür Yolu (‘Culture Route’) Festival, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hasan Niyazi Tura, first play the Toccata by the Turkish composer Yalçın Tura (1934-), best known for his film music. They then accompany the Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2017, in Robert Schumann’s 1845 Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 54, a lyrical work that is one of the most widely-performed piano concertos of the Romantic era. In the second half, the orchestra play Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1888 symphonic suite Scheherazade, Opus 35, based on the One Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights. Scheherazade is a landmark in the development of programmatic symphonic music in that – in addition to its brilliant, colourful orchestration and its exoticism – it uses a recurring virtuosic violin theme as a narrative device that weaves together the four movements.
Türk Telekom Opera Hall
20.30
Tickets from Biletinial
Prices: 260TL, 325TL, 455TL, 520TL, 650TL
Students: 130TL, 162.50TL, 227.50TL, 260TL, 325TL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9
Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Jan Lisiecki
In this event, the opening concert of the DenizBank Concerts season, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of the British conductor Duncan Ward) first accompany the Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki (born in 1995 to Polish parents and winner of the Leonard Bernstein Award in 2013) in Grieg’s three-movement Piano Concerto in A minor. Composed in 1868, when Grieg was only 24 years old, this concerto has become one of the most popular works in the piano repertoire.
In the second half, the orchestra play Prokofiev’s four-movement Symphony No. 5, written in only one month in 1944. The composer himself said he had conceived it as ‘a symphony on the greatness of the human soul.’ The first performance took place in Moscow in January 1945, only days after the Russian victory over the Germans on the Vistula River – the last major battle of WWII on Russian soil. The pianist Sviatoslav Richter was in attendance, and he later wrote: ‘When Prokofiev mounted the podium and silence set in, artillery salvos suddenly thundered. His baton was already raised. He waited, and until the cannon fire ceased, he didn’t begin. There was something very significant, very symbolic, in this. It was as if all of us – including Prokofiev – had reached some kind of shared turning point.’
Türk Telekom Opera Hall
20.00
Tickets from Biletinial
Prices: 300TL, 375TL, 520TL, 600TL, 745TL
Students: 150TL, 187.50TL, 260TL, 300TL, 372.50TL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16
Turkey-Romania Friendship Concert: Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra & Florin İliescu
In this event, described as a ‘Türkiye-Romania Friendship Concert’ and one of the DenizBank Concerts series, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of the Romanian conductor Ion Marin) first accompany the Romanian violinist Florin Iliescu in Mendelssohn’s three-movement Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64, composed between 1838 and 1845 and one of the most popular of all works for the violin.
In the second half, the orchestra play Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36, written between 1877 and 1878 and sometimes described as the composer’s ‘Fate’ symphony. According to Susan Key, writing on the ‘LA Phil’ website, this work is ‘the first full expression of his artistic voice’. Harlow Robinson, meanwhile, tells us the following on the ‘Boston Symphony Orchestra’ website: ‘The Fourth Symphony features all the hallmarks of great Tchaikovsky – brilliant orchestration, gorgeous melodies, Romantic emotional intensity and Russian folk song.’ Here is the full article.
Türk Telekom Opera Hall
20.00
Tickets from Biletinial
Prices: 300TL, 375TL, 520TL, 600TL, 745TL
Students: 150TL, 187.50TL, 260TL, 300TL, 372.50TL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23
Turkey-Poland Friendship Concert: Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra & Szymon Nehring
In this concert, organised in collaboration with the Istanbul Consulate-General of the Republic of Poland, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of the Polish lady conductor Marzena Diakun, first accompany the young Polish pianist Szymon Nehring (winner of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in 2017) in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor. This highly popular work, written in 1830 (when the composer was 20 years old) was actually written immediately after the first performance of his Piano Concerto No 2. In the second half, the orchestra play the British composer Edward Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme, Opus 36, better known as his Enigma Variations. This work, written between 1898 and 1899, consists of 14 variations on an original theme; it quickly became popular, and made Elgar’s reputation both in Britain and internationally.
This event – organised in honour of the Polish conductor Tadeusz Strugala (1935-), who conducted the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Ankara from 1977 to 1979 and from 1984 to 1986 – is one of the DenizBank Concerts.
Türk Telekom Opera Hall
20.00
Tickets from Biletinial
Prices: 300TL, 375TL, 520TL, 600TL, 745TL
Students: 150TL, 187.50TL, 260TL, 300TL, 372.50TL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28
TRT Istanbul Radio Light Music and Jazz Orchestra
In a review of a concert by this excellent orchestra, which is conducted by Cem Tuncer, I said the following: ‘We heard some fine brass playing from the five trumpets and four trombones on stage. There was also some well-coordinated blaring from the five saxophones, among whom I was pleased to see some musicians I had previously listened to at closer quarters in various jazz clubs. … It takes a great deal of musical maturity to do an encore that is not of the high-energy, roistering variety, but all the musicians on the stage undoubtedly had that quality in abundance. … I left the premises thinking to myself that there are few places in the world where one can hear a jazz concert of this quality, and my heartfelt congratulations go to each and every one of the musicians who accompanied [the soloist] with such consummate skill and professionalism.’
This concert will be broadcast live on TRT Radio 3.
AKM Theatre Hall
20.00
Tickets from Biletinial
Prices: 230TL, 375TL, 450TL
The Polish-Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki
performs at the AKM on October 23
Image: Deutsche Grammophon
