Istanbul: Turkish pianist plays with Chinese orchestra

By Saadet Firdevs Apari

ISTANBUL (AA) - Internationally-renowned Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say performed alongside the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra at the closure of the Istanbul Music Festival on Sunday.

The concert was organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts for the 47th Istanbul Music festival.

The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra performed for the first time in front of a Turkish audience at the Lutfi Kirdar International Convention and Exhibition Center.

During the first half of the two-part concert, Say performed "Piano Concerto No. 3" by Beethoven.

Liang Zhang who has conducted the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra for nearly 11 years, followed with a performance of "The Fading Gingkgo Biloba" by Ye Xiaogang.

At the opening of the second half, the orchestra performed "Symphony No. 6" by Antonin Dvorak.

Born in 1970 in the Turkish capital of Ankara, Fazil Say began playing the piano at the age of four, and continued his music training at Ankara State Conservatory.

Say has played with the New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Symphony Orchestras, and had also served as a cultural ambassador for the EU.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit