The arts diary

Past events

• 

  Classical music and Opera

  AKM November highlights

  November 1, 2025 – November 30, 2025

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art, Auction

  Christie’s Arts of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Rugs and Carpets

  October 30, 2025

  Christie’s King Street, London

• 

  Art, Auction

  Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World & India October 2025

  Islamic Sales Week

  October 29, 2025

  Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London

• 

  Jazz

  Zorlu Center October Highlights

  October 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Opera and modern dance

  Events at the Süreyya Opera House, Moda

  October 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  IKSV’s 18th Biennial

  The Three-Legged Cat

  September 20, 2025 – November 23, 2025 10 am - 6 pm
• 

  Timurtaş Onan: Transforming City

  September 18, 2025 – October 26, 2025

  Barın Han, Old City, Istanbul

• 

  Sculpture in the park

  Burçak Bingöl with Galeri Nev

  The Regent's Park, London

  September 17, 2025 – November 2, 2025
• 

  Art

  Official Balance

  Öktem Aykut Gallery

  September 15, 2025 – October 25, 2025 12pm - 9pm

  Öktem & Aykut

• 

  Performance

  Dimitris Skyllas

  The Big Other

  September 12, 2025 8pm

  Istanbul Modern

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Environmental Archaeology Online Program

  September 3, 2025 – October 3, 2025
• 

  Art

  Ali Konyalı: Rengim İstanbul / My Colour’s Istanbul

  August 28, 2025 – August 27, 2025

  Schneider Temple, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Gülsin Onay in concert

  August 2, 2025 – September 9, 2025

  Italy

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Lives Between the Lines: Reflections on Levantine culture and it’s meaning today

  A hybrid presentation by Michael Vatikiotis

  July 29, 2025 6 pm U.K. time
• 

  Performance

  The International Gümüşlük Music Festival 2025

  July 16, 2025 – September 9, 2025

  The Bodrum Peninsula

• 

  choral music

  Rossini Night with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 26, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• Traditional Music

  The Island: Music of the Turkish and Greek peoples

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 25, 2025 20.30

  Kınalıada Christos Greek Orthodox Monastery, Kınalıada, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Caravaggio & Monteverdi

  June 24, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• Tango

  Cuarteto SolTango & Leonel Capitona: ‘Poesía’

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 22, 2025 21.00

  , Tarabya, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music & visual art

  Women stars of tomorrow

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 21, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  ‘Music Route @ Büyükdere’

  June 21, 2025 12–16.30

  Büyükdere

• 

  Performance

  NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Rafał Blechacz (piano)

  June 20, 2025
• 

  Performance

  NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin)

  June 19, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Geneva Camerata ‘Revolta’

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 17, 2025 20.00

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Cellist François Salque and accordion-player Vincent Peirani

  June 17, 2025 21.00

  Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Veriko Tchumburidze (violin), Anastasia Kobekina (cello) and Alexey Botvinov (piano)

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 16, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Orchestral, piano concerto

  Camerata Salzburg, Hélène Grimaud (piano)

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 14, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• Children's event

  A Musical Weekend I: hip-hop dance workshop

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 14, 2025 15.00–16.00

  Beşiktaş, Beşiktaş, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  ‘Pictures in Motion’

  June 13, 2025 20.00

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Gautier Capuçon (cello), Alexandre Kantorow (piano)

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 12, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Gautier Capuçon (cello), Alexandre Kantorow (piano)

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 12, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Opening Concert

  Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra, Bulgarian National Choir

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 11, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Strings in Love

  Traditional music

  June 9, 2025 21.00

  Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Emirgan, Istanbul

• 

  LECTURE

  Reina Lewis: Fashion and Social Relations in Late Ottoman Society

  BIAA London Lecture

  June 4, 2025 18.30 (UK time)

  British Academy, London

• 

  Orchestral, violin concerto

  CRR Symphony Orchestra, Francesca Dego (violin)

  May 31, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Brenda Berin Quintet

  May 30, 2025 21.30

  Asa-Khai Jazz Club, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Hyrbid talk (online and in person)

  Andrew Finkel: Constantinople in Olympia

  How the nineteenth century Eastern Question was transformed by spectacle, song and dance

  May 27, 2025 18.00 (UK) 20.00 (Turkey)

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  Recital by violin duo

  Ksenia Milas and Oleksandr Semchuk

  Coffee Concerts Series

  May 25, 2025 11.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Piano Recital

  Mehveş Emeç

  Romanticism on the Piano

  May 25, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music

  Berk Dalkılıç and Gizem Dalkılıç

  Tenor & piano recital

  May 24, 2025 – May 25, 2025 18.30

  Minoa Pera Bookshop & Café, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Coffee Concert series

  Bosphorus D’Light

  The Bosphorus Trio

  May 24, 2025 11.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Jazz

  Ferit Odman Quintet

  May 23, 2025

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Orchestral, cello concerto

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Oksana Lyniv

  May 23, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art, Contemporary art

  Mustafa Hulusi: Breathing in the World

  May 23, 2025 – May 22, 2025

  Dirimart Pera, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art, Auction

  Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art

  May 23, 2025

  Bonhams New Bond Street, London

• 

  Panel

  Anatolian Plant Legacy: a presentation and conversation

  Martyn Rix, Christabel Frances King, Gülnur Ekşi Bona, Hülya Korkmaz, Işık Güner

  May 18, 2025 13.30–14.30 Turkish time

  SALT Beyoğlu, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Orchestral Concert

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, various young soloists

  May 16, 2025 20.00
• 

  Göksu, Demirer, Deniz

  Jazz Wind

  May 16, 2025 20.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  PHOTOGRAPHY

  Faik Şenol: Şehrin Hafizası (The City’s Memory)

  May 16, 2025 – July 31, 2025

  Taksim Sanat, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Exhibition

  Anatolian Plant Legacy

  May 15, 2025 – August 10, 2025

  SALT Beyoğlu, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Emir Ersoy

  Cuban Classics

  May 15, 2025

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Ziyu He (violin)

  Yüzyılın Yankıları (‘The Century’s Echoes’)

  May 15, 2025 20.00

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Alev Berberoğlu: Camera and Female Empowerment

  Italian Photographer Elisa Zonaro in Ottoman Istanbul

  May 14, 2025 18.00 (UK) 20.00 (Turkey)

  London

• 

  Chamber music

  Bozok Quartet, Ayşegül Kirmanoğlu (clarinet), İris Şentürker (piano)

  Brahms Romanticism

  May 14, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music

  Istanbul Baroque Ensemble

  Barok Tutkular (‘Baroque Passions’)

  May 14, 2025 20.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Dr Robert Schild:  ‘Burgazada: A living ethnographic museum’

  May 13, 2025 20.00 (Turkey) 18.00 (UK)

  London

  

• 

  Chamber music

  Piano and ney recital

  The World and Us: The Mystical Keys of Jazz

  May 11, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Hyrbid talk (online and in person)

  Andrew Finkel: Constantinople in Olympia

  How the nineteenth century Eastern Question was transformed by spectacle, song and dance

  May 10, 2025 18.00

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  Hyrbid talk (online and in person)

  Andrew Finkel: Constantinople in Olympia

  How the nineteenth century Eastern Question was transformed by spectacle, song and dance

  May 10, 2025 18.00

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  Contemporary art

  Guido Casaretto: Of Strays, Rhinos and Misunderstandings

  May 10, 2025 – August 15, 2025

  YUNT, Greater Istanbul, Istanbul

• 

  Jazz

  Sibel Köse

  May 10, 2025 21.30

  Asa-Khai Jazz Club, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music

  Can Özhan and Pınar Çelik Warsi

  Violin & piano recital

  May 10, 2025 20.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Recital

  Çağatay Akyol and Bilgin Canaz

  Harp and ney recital

  May 10, 2025 11.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Orchestral, horn concerto

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Can Kiracı (horn)

  Denizbank Concerts Series

  May 9, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art

  Sevinç Altan: This is a Pair of Scissors

  May 9, 2025 – June 9, 2025

  Galeri Nev Istanbul, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art

  Samuel Laurence Cunnane Photographs

  Öktem Aykut Gallery

  May 8, 2025 – June 4, 2025

  Öktem & Aykut

• 

  Art, Contemporary art

  Nuri Kuzucan

  All Fragments of a Painting

  May 7, 2025 – June 21, 2025

  Galerist, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber Music

  Frühlingsklänge (‘Sounds of Spring’): Berk Dalkılıç and Gizem Dalkılıç

  May 7, 2025 20.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music

  Bruno Borralhinho: Solo cello recital

  May 6, 2025 20.30

  Naval Museum, Beşiktaş, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music

  Borusan String Quartet & Reto Bieri (clarinet) at ENKA Sanat

  Masters of Chamber Music

  May 6, 2025 20.30

  ENKA Sanat, Maslak, Istanbul

• 

  Baroque Chamber music

  Camerata Trajectina

  May 5, 2025 20.30

  Church of Saint-Antoine (St Anthony of Padua), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  TALK (IN PERSON AND ONLINE)

  The Elusive Fashion Stories of Enslaved Women in late Ottoman Istanbul

  May 5, 2025 18.00 (Turkish time)

  ANAMED Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Jazz

  Ece Göksu Trio at the Asa Khai Jazz Club

  May 3, 2025 21.30

  Asa-Khai Jazz Club, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Classical Music

  Orchestra Istanbul’, Can Özhan (violin)

  Orchestral music, violin concerto

  May 3, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music

  Semplice Quartet

  May 3, 2025 20.30

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM)

• 

  Chamber music

  Hezarfen Ensemble

  May 3, 2025 17.30

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Opera

  La Traviata

  May 3, 2025 – May 7, 2025

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

  Saturday May 3: 15:00
  Wednesday May 7: 20:00
   

• 

  Orchestral, cello concerto

  CRR Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Philippe (cello)

  May 3, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Emden, Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Orchestral, guitar concerto

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Pablo Sáinz Villegas (guitar)

  May 2, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Islamic Sales Week Spring 2025: Christie’s

  May 1, 2025

  Christie’s King Street, London

• 

  Auction

  Islamic Sales Week, London: Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World and India

  April 30, 2025

  Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London

• 

  Islamic Sales Week 2025: David Roberts at Sotheby’s

  April 29, 2025 16.15

  Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London

• 

  Art, Auction

  Islamic Sales Week Spring 2025 - The Orientalist Sale at Sotheby’s

  April 29, 2025 15.00

  Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London

• 

  Performance

  András Szalai (cimbalom), Péter Szűcs (clarinet)

  Cimbalom & clarinet recital

  April 24, 2025 20.30

  All Saints Moda, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Solo exhibition

  Kevin Francis Gray

  April 24, 2025 – May 31, 2025

  Pilevneli, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Cenk Erdoğan Trio

  April 23, 2025 21.30 (doors open 20.30)

  Asa-Khai Jazz Club, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Online presentation

  Ekaterina Aygun: Emigré Artists from the Former Russian Empire

  April 22, 2025

  Anglo-Turkish Society

• 

  Jazz

  Ayten Alpman: A Timeless Jazz Journey

  April 18, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Orchestra & cello

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra with Kian Soltani

  April 18, 2025 20.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Exhibition

  The lives of Animals

  April 16, 2025 – August 10, 2025

  SALT Beyoğlu, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Seminar Announcement

  Travellers in Ottoman Lands III

  Call for Papers

  April 9, 2025 – April 12, 2025

  ISTANBUL

• 

  Performance

  Piano trios from members of the Istanbul Youth Orchestra

  Violin, cello & piano recital

  April 9, 2025 20.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Piano Recital

  ‘Ravel 150’

  April 9, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  String quartets, piano quintet

  Quatuor Danel, Emre Elivar

  April 9, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Operatic arias

  Suat Arıkan, Ceren Aydın and Lena Şenol (piano)

  April 6, 2025 20.30

  All Saints Moda, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Art

  Atlas of Silence

  Kairos Gallery

  April 4, 2025 – April 19, 2025 12pm - 9pm
• 

  Performance

  Ferit Odman Quintet

  March 21, 2025

  Touché, Levent, Istanbul

• 

  Jazz

  Bora Çeliker Quartet

  March 19, 2025 21.30

  Asa-Khai Jazz Club, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Violin, cello & piano recital

  Phaeton Piano Trio

  March 17, 2025 20.30

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• 

  Operatic arias

  Viva Verdi

  March 16, 2025 15.00

  Atatürk Cultural Centre / Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM), Beyoğlu, Istanbul