About Istanbul Jazz Festival:

  • We cannot say that music culture in Turkey is far away from Jazz but also cannot say that it is familiar with it. Jazz entered Turkey in the early 1920s, it was a new type of music for people but not strange or weird one. In fact, the term concept of Jazz music was welcomed rapidly because the two main elements in Jazz music “ Swing and improvisation “ are also one of the main elements in Turkish music culture. From this acceptance and love to Jazz music, the Istanbul Jazz Festival was born and now it is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The festival lasts for approximately three weeks and as its main mission to provide international collaborate, Istanbul Jazz Festival hosts many jazz, rock, and folk artists from all over the world and because of that, istanbul jazz festival always gives a space for meeting, making relations, and practicing languages.

The Istanbul Jazz Festival is one of the two main major music festivals that are organized by IKSV “ Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Art “ which is a non-profit organization that aims to spread Turkey music culture. The festival focuses on classic music in a period, and jazz music in another period, and also spot a light on folk, rock, and other types of music.

It is not just about music:

To organize a successful festival everything must be perfect and the whole environment must be interconnected with the music and this is what makes Istanbul Jazz Festival one of the greatest festivals around the world. For example, the Italian trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso played with his quarter a beautiful music in the garden with green warm lights to put the fans in the right atmosphere.

Beside that, the services during the festival is something to be respected. Cafes, bars, restaurants are available at any location of the festival’s and offer all kinds of food and drinks. All you have to do is join this music happy festival and have fun.

Lately, istanbul jazz festival has launched a program in which it proposes local artists through international collaborating to the audience. This program is called “Vitrin”, and many local artists joined this program. One of the artists who joined is the jazz artist Cagri Sertel who perform energetic jazz fusion inspired by modern jazz elements. His performance was astonishing.
Another artist who surprised everyone with her amazing strong voice is the pianist and composer Selen Gulun. One of the most accomplished contemporary Turkish musicians. She played varied types of vocal jazz with piano tunes inspired by bossa nova and calypso, her performance was from her own project “women’s matinee “ and left the audience in love with her.
Vitrin program does not just host local Turkish artists but also some international artists, this step helps to connect artists with each other from all over the world and introduce them differently to the audience. In fact, the head director of the festival said: I feel we should focus more on Turkish artists in the future to help them to be known internationally. Along with international artists, the Istanbul Jazz Festival should be presenting the best example of Turkish jazz and contemporary music to help them grow”

Each year, the festival gethers around 50,000 people and more than 30 concerts held at various historical venues of Istanbul, such as the Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre, Hagia Eirene Museum, and Esma Sultan Mansion,in addition to the outdoor venues around the city.

Istanbul Jazz Festival will give you the opportunity to live an amazing experience, do not miss it we are waiting for you.