The Istanbul Music Festival, the first festival of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2012. From 31 May to 29 June, the 40th Music Festival will host more than 750 local and foreign artists in Istanbul and will present a month full of music. The 40th Istanbul Music Festival will host stars of classical music in Istanbul including Hélène Grimaud, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Milos, Gidon Kremer, Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and will feature two special performances of the Zurich Ballet as part of the farewell tour of Heinz Spoerli, one of the leading choreographers of Europe. Along with concerts, the festival will also present talks, educational workshops and speeches. The Istanbul Music Festival will continue to contribute to the contemporary music repertory with its commissions to two world-renown composers. One of the most productive artists of our time, the genius pianist Fazıl Say who gets standing ovations at every concert, and one of most valuable composers of Georgia, Giya Kancheli will have the world premieres of their new works commissioned by the Istanbul Music Festival within the scope of the festival. Since 2011, the festival has started to build its programme around a theme. The theme of this year’s Istanbul Music Festival will be “Hope and Heroes.” The festival programme, as a result of an accurate repertory research, presents a range of specific works and special concert projects selected within the scope of two intertwined themes such as heroes and hope. Along with these, special projects entitled “Istanbul Music Festival in Search of Its Young Soloist,” “Young Masters and Their Heroes” and “Open Conservatory”, which will be held in Karaköy Greek Primary School, will be carried out as well. Presenting 2 world premieres and 3 Turkish premieres, the 40th Istanbul Music Festival features 23 concerts including symphonic and chamber orchestras, vocal concerts, chamber music and recitals. The festival concerts will be held in 8 different venues including Hagia Eirene Museum, which continues to host the festival for the last 40 years, along with the Haliç Congress Center, Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center, Garden of the Netherlands Consulate General, Süreyya Opera House, Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, Istanbul University Rectorate Building and Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The Istanbul Music Festival Director Yeşim Gürer Oymak pointed out that the festival built its programme around “Hope and Heroes” theme and said “Artists, just like heroes, follow their dreams for a lifetime. They fight for the community - sometimes even running the risk of opposing the community itself, only with the hope that they might one day be appreciated. They light our darkest hours; they inspire us; they instil hope into our exhausted souls and hearts. We invite the music lovers to an acoustic realm where hope and heroism reign in the wonderful works of great composers. (...) Besides the performances relating to the theme of this year's festival, we will be hosting the world premieres of our two commissions: Georgian composer Giya Kancheli's symphonic work dedicated to the cellist Benyamin Sönmez who passed away last year at a very young age and Fazıl Say's much anticipated "Mesopotamia" Symphony. With also many Turkish premieres, glamorous concerts, lectures, and educational projects, we wish this festival to be an inviting and hope-inspiring event.”