German composer Frieder Bernius set to perform in Turkey

By Eda Ozdener

ANKARA (AA) - German conductor Frieder Bernius is set to perform in Turkey, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry announced on Thursday.

The founder and director of chamber choir Kammerchor Stuttgart will lead a series of concerts and training in Istanbul and the capital Ankara.

Hosted by Turkey's Directorate General of Fine Arts, the events will be held in association with the German Embassy and Goethe-Institut in Ankara.

Bernius will first give a concert at Istanbul’s newly opened Ataturk Cultural Center (AKM) on Nov. 14.

Two days later he will perform at the CSO Ada Ankara, a concert hall in the Turkish capital.

As part of a project by Turkey’s State Polyphonic Choir and Maestro Burak Onur Erdem, young musicians of the State Polyphonic Choir will receive intensive training from Bernius and also give a concert under the baton of the renowned conductor.

In the concerts by Bernius, Turkish musical instruments such as the tambur and ney will accompany the orchestra to create a synthesis of Anatolian and Central European classical music.

The orchestra will also play some pieces of Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer of the early Romantic period Felix Mendelssohn and Austrian composer Anton Bruckner.

Bernius founded Kammerchor Stuttgart in 1968 and has conducted Germany’s leading orchestras and choirs such as Stuttgart Radio Symphony, WDR Symphony, and RIAS Chamber Choir.