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‘Melodies of Istanbul’ orchestra perform during a rehearsal ahead of the 46th edition of Istanbul Music Festival at the Grand Bazaar, exceptionally open on a Sunday, during an interview with AFP in Istanbul.

Turkish traditional musician and conductor Hakan Gungor performs dur- “Melodies of Istanbul” orchestra perform during a rehearsal ahead of the 46th edition of Istanbul Music Festival. — AFP photos ing a rehearsal ahead of the 46th edition of Istanbul Music Festival at the Grand Bazaar. Festival takes music deep into Istanbul’s centuries-old heritage

t’s an early summer evening at Istanbul’s Grand ‘Connections with identity’ Bazaar, the maze-like warren of alleyways crammed The Istanbul Music Festival, which focuses on classi- with shops that has been the city’s trading hub for cal music but includes high quality traditional music and Iover half a millennium. But this time, there are no jazz, has taken concerts to venues like the Neve Shalom traders’ voices beckoning to travellers to come and Synagogue, the St Anthony Roman Catholic Church and haggle over the price of a carpet. Nor is the air filled even the platform of Sirkeci Train Station, the legendary with the pungent whiff of oriental spices being offered terminus of the Orient Express. The use of the venues, to passers-by. As the evening light streams through the and the music played inside them, is a celebration of upper arch windows, it is music that resonates through multicultural heritage in a city where the presence of the bazaar; oriental wind instruments like the Turkish Jews, Armenians and Greeks, as well as other minorities ney and Armenian duduk, the lute-like oud and the alongside the majority Muslim population, is a key part Balkan accordion. of its urban identity. Their populations were greatly For the first time in its history as an epicenter of trade diminished by 20th century tragedies such as the and commerce in Istanbul, the bazaar is being used for a deportations and massacres of Armenians under the concert in the prestigious annual summer Istanbul Music Ottoman Empire from 1915 seen by Armenians, but not Festival run by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Turkey, as a genocide-and the mob rioting directed at Arts (IKSV) — the city’s premier musical event since its the Greek minority in 1955. creation in 1973. Today, these buildings are a symbol of the proud pres- ence that Turkey’s minorities maintain in the former ‘Grand’ acoustics Constantinople, once the capital of the Roman, Byzantine Kudsi Erguner, a celebrated It’s a constant source of frustration to music lovers in and then Ottoman empires. “Istanbul has been the capital Turkish traditional musi- Istanbul that the Turkish megapolis lacks a world-class, city of three empires and home to three major religions. that dates back to the 6th century and where audiences Ferran Savall plays guitar cian of ney poses for a pic- purpose-built music venue, especially for classical and They all left their landmarks in the city,” director of the can enjoy classical music with pin sharp acoustics marred during a rehearsal ahead of ture during a rehearsal traditional music. But the festival uses the city’s multicul- Istanbul Music Festival and deputy director general of only by the occasional swooping pigeon. the 46th edition of Istanbul ahead of the 46th edition of tural and multi-confessional heritage to make up for what IKSV, Yesim Gurer Oymak, told AFP. “A festival should At the concert inside the Grand Bazaar, its historic Music Festival at the Grand Istanbul Music Festival. it lacks in modern infrastructure, staging concerts in also underline the historical heritage of the city where it walls echoed with a celebration of Istanbul’s cultural Bazaar. churches, synagogues, historic universities and now the takes place and make connections with its cultural identi- heritage, bringing together songs of Armenian, Ladino, Grand Bazaar. “It is a very intelligent way to use this kind ty,” she added. Jewish as well as Turkish origin, led by traditional musi- of historical space for concerts and bring in people for cian Hakan Gungor. “This is the first time we perform a reasons other than their original function,” said Kudsi ‘Tolerance and harmony’ concert in the Grand Bazaar. It is a very important place Erguner, a celebrated Turkish traditional musician and one This year saw a concert held for the first time in the with very authentic shops and our music is also very of the great living exponents of the ney. Neve Shalom Synagogue, a key place of worship for authentic,” said Cag Ercag, one of Turkey’s top classical “Usually, people come here to buy things,” he added, Istanbul’s Jewish community, which was hit twice by cellists. Oymak said there were still locations in Istanbul before dazzling the audience with his command of the deadly attacks-first in a 1986 gun attack and then a 2003 where she dreamt of holding concerts, in particular a long, flute-like instrument. Despite the venue not being bombing blamed on Islamist militants. Istanbul may not concert of “tolerance and harmony” at the historic built for the purpose, he praised the acoustics of the have an ultra-modern concert hall like Paris or Hamburg Sultanahmet Square-which is flanked by the Hagia Grand Bazaar, known in Turkish as the Kapalicarsi, but some of the finest acoustics in the city are to be found Sophia and Blue Mosque-fusing elements of Western meaning Covered Market. “The space is curved, there is in historic buildings which also double as concert venues. and Eastern music. — AFP a nice resonance and a very nice differentiation of Possibly the finest venue for an orchestra in the city is the sound,” he added. Hagia Eirene a former Byzantine church, now a museum-

action for good including community health workers Mick Jagger quips about who conduct HIV tests or who instruct mothers on Beyonce leads child nutrition as well as teachers and South Africans who recycle plastics. Polish courts overhaul S Africa anti-poverty Mandela as inspiration at Warsaw concert Evans said that Mandela offered a model for the festival for Mandela Global Citizen movement through his magnanimous he Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger took a swipe at the efforts at racial reconciliation and democracy as well as Polish government’s shake-up of the judiciary dur- eyonce and Jay-Z will lead an A-list lineup to mark through his focus on tackling poverty and global health. Ting a concert in Warsaw, adding his voice to a cho- 100 years since Nelson Mandela’s birth in a Beyonce previously performed in South Africa in 2003 rus of critics who say the changes harm democracy. The Johannesburg festival by the Global Citizen move- B at a concert hosted by Mandela to raise awareness on new laws force all judges aged 65 or over - including the ment to eradicate poverty. The December 2 event, which HIV and AIDS. Two years later Mandela delivered a head of Poland’s Supreme Court, Malgorzata Gersdorf - will be internationally broadcast, will celebrate the late In this file photo Beyonce (left) and Jay-Z perform during landmark speech in London’s Trafalgar Square urging to retire. They are part of a wide-ranging overhaul that anti-apartheid icon and draw a number of leaders in an a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) performance in support of concerted efforts to “make poverty history.” But Evans the ruling conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) says attempt to throw a spotlight on fledging efforts to eradi- Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at the said that the world was falling behind on the UN is needed to rid Poland of its lingering communist legacy. cate the world’s worst poverty, Global Citizen Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. — AFP Sustainable Development Goals which include ending “I am too old to be a judge,” Jagger, 74, said in Polish on announced yesterday. hunger and ensuring educational opportunities to all Sunday to the audience gathered at Warsaw’s national Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z will headline the has since branched out overseas with seminars and children, regardless of gender, by 2030. soccer stadium. “But I am young enough to sing.” music at the FNB Stadium alongside several other stars: music in India, Germany and elsewhere. While Britain, Germany and Nordic countries are The European Union, human rights groups, interna- Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, English singer-song- Hugh Evans, the founder and CEO of the movement, meeting the UN-backed goal of devoting 0.7 percent of tional bodies and Polish opposition parties have all writer Ed Sheeran, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, hit said he expected the Johannesburg festival to be the gross domestic product to international aid, other major criticized the changes, saying they undermine the pop producer Pharrell Williams and R&B chart-topper biggest Global Citizen festival ever in terms of reach, countries are lagging behind. independence of the courts and boost the influence of Usher. The festival will also feature some of the conti- symbolism and lineup. “On every way that we measure In the United States, President Donald Trump has politicians. Poland overthrew communism in 1989, nent’s most popular musicians including South African outcomes-the number of citizens engaged, the number called for slashing foreign assistance by one-third, breaking away from the Soviet system imposed after hip-hop producer Cassper Nyovest and Nigerian artists of policy outcomes that are achieved, the number of although Congress has largely resisted his “America World War Two, before the Berlin Wall fell several Wizkid, D’banj and Femi Kuti, who is the son of Afrobeat lives that are affected as a result of those policy out- First” push on aid. “The truth is the world is not on track months later. —Reuters legend Fela Kuti. comes-we believe it has the potential to be the most sig- to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals unless Global Citizen said it hoped that the run-up to the nificant campaign we’ve ever been part of,” Evans told there is greater political will,” Evans said. Global Citizen festival would raise commitments of $1 billion to help the AFP. Unlike traditional benefit concerts, Global Citizen said that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as world’s poorest, with half of the amount aimed at women distributes tickets for free to supporters who pledge to well as the leaders of Norway and Ghana plan to attend and girls. Global Citizen has held festivals since 2012 in take actions such as writing their governments to sup- the December 2 festival in honor of Mandela, who was New York’s Central Park on the sidelines of the annual port international development assistance. born on July 18, 1918. — AFP UN General Assembly to rally support, especially among For the Johannesburg edition, Global Citizen will young people, in the fight against poverty. The group also hand out tickets to people who are taking direct Mick Jagger