The young pianist and composer Cem Esen first crossed my radar when I heard a piece by him entitled Sarcasm (weird choice for a piece of music!) played by Cem Mansur’s Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at their Istanbul concert last August. The piece impressed me by reason of its tongue-in-cheek orchestral effects, which included lots of sneering glissandi from trombones and muted trumpets, and by the fact that its style was so modern that when someone’s ringtone went off during a xylophone and percussion duet, it didn’t seem at all inappropriate. I rarely give ringtones during concerts a positive review, but then there are many exceptional features to the work of this talented young musician…