The 11th edition of the eagerly-expected D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival will be held between 15 and 19 August 2015. The festival will feature distinguished ensembles and performers including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra of Turkey, Denis Matsuev, Buika, Sarah Chang, Eleni Karandriou, and Fazıl Say.

Supported by founding sponsor Doğuş Group, the 11th D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival will be held between 15 and 19 August this year. With artistic planning and programming by Pozitif Live, the festival's opening concert will feature world-renowned conductor Charles Dutiot in charge of the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied by Denis Matsuev, a great virtuoso of the Russian piano school.

Other guests of the festival include Sarah Chang, a famous virtuoso of the violin; Buika, one of the top 50 vocalists of all time; cellist Sedef Erçetin Atala and pianist Maria Papapetropoulou with their "Metamorphosis" project; the Karşıyaka Chamber Orchestra (KODA) composed of the most talented musicians in Izmir as well as the Karşıyaka Quintet formed by KODA musicians, and young talents Dorukhan Doruk, Veriko Tchumburidze, Can Çakmur and Yunus Tuncalı. The Bodrum Castle will become a venue for the D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival for the first time this year, featuring Eleni Karaindrou, a composer of unforgettable film songs, accompanied by Istanbul Sinfonietta led by conductor Ender Sakpınar.

As the first and only classical music event held in a marina, the festival will introduce Sunrise Concerts in the programme to complete the very popular Sunset Concerts. Early birds will greet the sun with breath-taking views from the Amphitheatre, enriching the pleasure of classical music with a mesmerising view of sunrise. The closing event of the festival will be an unforgettable marriage of literature and music. Fazıl Say will remember Sait Faik, one of the pioneers of the short story genre in Turkish literature, on the 60th anniversary of his passing (2014), and render him unforgettable once more, this time in musical notes.

The festival reached over 160,000 lovers of music with more than 3500 performers, and offers an extensive programme in its 11th year with 11 concerts over 5 days.

Denis Matsuev to accompany the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the opening of the D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival

Bringing the lovers of classical music together, the festival's opening concert will feature the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, widely recognised as one of the most important and prestigious orchestras of the world, accompanied by Denis Matsuev, a great virtuoso of the Russian piano school. Titled "Russian Fire", the programme includes Denis Matsuev's performance of the Ruslan ve Ludmilla Ouverture and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, one of the composer's most popular works. The programme will also enchant the audience Rachmaninov's 2nd Concerto for Piano, which is no less dramatic than Tchaikovsky owing to striking contrasts and magnificent crescendos. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the grand opening concert will be directed by conductor Charles Dutoit, one of the world's greatest conductors, who will be in Turkey for the first time. The festival promises much more in the way of excitement following the unforgettable opening concert on 15 August.

Violin virtuoso Sarah Chang also to perform on the D-Marin stage

Having performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 8 and gone on to play with the most prominent orchestras, conductors and pianists of the world, Sarah Chang is hailed as one of the greatest violinists of the world. Chang will perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by conductor Charles Dutoit on the second day of the festival. In the second half of her performance entitled "New Sounds from the New World," Chang will perform "Dvorak," one of the most popular symphonies in classical music, to create an unforgettable experience for the audience.

The Festival takes to the Bodrum Castle

The festival will expand beyond the marina for the first time this year, and will include a special concert at the Bodrum Castle, the landmark of Bodrum. The "Bodrum Castle North Moat Concert Area Improvement Project" implemented in 2014 with Doğuş Group as the main sponsor increased seating capacity for the venue and rebuilt the stage area. The Castle became accessible to persons with disabilities and started receiving lovers of classical music last year.

The concert at the castle will be performed by Eleni Karaindrou, the composer of the unforgettable soundtracks for Theo Angelopoulos’ films. The concert will be directed by conductor Ender Sakpınar and Karaindrou will be accompanied by Istanbul Sinfonietta for an enchanting musical experience.

Buika's voice will meld with the sounds of the sea, and the musical breeze from Turgutreis will blow all over Bodrum

Buika brought a fresh style to world music with her voice, highly emotional lyrics, and her exceptional ability to merge a variety of genres from jazz to flamenco. Music critics compare her to Nina Simone, Chavela Vargas and Cesarea Evora, and the National Public Radio named her "the voice of freedom" and counted her among the top 50 vocals of all time. Buika will perform a symphonic concert in the D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival. Buika will perform with the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra of Turkey, one of the world's most established ensembles, led by conductor Toni Cuenca.

Music and literature will dance into the skies above Bodrum

The 11th D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival will conclude with a fusion of music and literature that will be remembered for years to come. In the first half of the concert, Fazıl Say will perform with Serenad Bağcan a number of songs included in Bağcan's latest album.

In the second half of concert, world-famous Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say will perform "Sait Faik," a work inspired by the short story writer of the same name and commissioned by Istanbul Music Festival, whose contributions to contemporary story writing transformed Turkish prose. The work is specifically based on Faik's short story titled “S/S Stylianos Hrisopulos".

Bodrum will wake to the day with Bach and KODA Quintet

The world's first and only classical music festival held in a marina will feature sunrise concerts in addition to its traditional sunset concerts. The festival programme features 11 performances including sunrise, sunset and night concerts. Sunrise concerts were added to the programme after great audience interest in sunset concerts, and Bodrum will wake up to music this summer.

After greeting the sun with the soothing tunes of classical music, audiences will also love sunset concerts. Sunrise concerts are planned for two days in the festival, and the first concert will feature Johann Sebastian Bach’s suites for solo violoncello. Titled "Waking to the Day with Bach" the concert will be performed at the break of dawn by Dorukhan Doruk, and will include Suite No. 1, which is very popular in film and TV, and Suite No. 6, described by Rostropovich as the "symphony for solo violoncello."

The second "sunrise concert" in the D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival will feature a new ensemble called "KODA Quintet." A summer's morning will exude with happiness and vivacity thanks to some nearly-popularised works of classical music.

The programme will begin with Bach's "Aria" - a piece frequently adapted to many genres from jazz to electronic, and even heard in "Whiter Shade of Pale" and continue with Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" that most everyone can whistle to the tune, and with other works by prominent composers.

Sunset concerts to prepare you for the night

The "Sunset Concert with Young Masters" on Sunday, 16 August will feature Veriko Tchumburidze, Dorukhan Doruk and Yunus Tuncalı on the same stage as part of the "Young Talents on World Stages" project led by renowned Turkish pianists Güher and Süher Pekinel. On the third day of the festival, Monday, 17 August, the concert at the D-Marin Turgutreis Amphitheater will be performed by cellist Sedef Erçetin Atala and pianist Maria Papapetropoulou. The third Sunset Concert will be performed by pianist Can Çakmur, who achieved great success in Turkey and abroad before he was even 18. Can Çakmur was admitted to the Schola Cantorum in Paris in 2012 as a part-time student, and won first prize in the 22nd International Rome Competition in the same year. Çakmur will perform a repertoire ranging from Mozart to Schubert for an extraordinary musical experience. In the last Sunset Concert, conductor Oğuzhan Kavruk and the Karşıyaka Chamber Orchestra will perform Vivaldi’s famous "Four Seasons." The orchestra will be accompanied by Deniz Toygür Conus on the violin.

The entire proceeds from the festival will be donated to the Tohum Autism Foundation and the Bodrum Health Foundation as in previous years

The entire proceeds from the 11th D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival will be donated to the Tohum Autism Foundation and the Bodrum Health Foundation. Doğuş Group seeks to support the advancement of culture and arts in Turkey, and maintains a multifaceted approach to developing projects towards this goal. In addition to establishing the Doğuş Kids Symphony Orchestra, Turkey's first and only kids symphonic orchestra, Doğuş Group also renovated the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra Concert Hall and became the main sponsor of the ensemble. Since 2009, Doğuş Group has been leading the "Symphonic Nights on Campus" project, which involves the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra visiting public universities in Anatolian provinces where the Orchestra has never performed before in order to promote classical music to university students and the general public.

About the D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival:

D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival aims to support the development of classical music in Turkey and provide greater access of audiences to classical music events.

• The festival is being held under the founding sponsorship of the Doğuş Group since 2005, at the D-Marin Turgutreis Marina.
• The event is the first and only classical music festival to take place in a marina.
• There were seven sunset and night concerts during four days in the 2014 edition of the festival, and there have been 77 concerts to date.
• The Festival was attended by over 160,000 music lovers.
• With Directors of Art Kemal Küçük for the first three and Yücel Canyaran for the next seven years, the Festival hosted more than 3500 artists to date. As of 2015, PozitifLive is responsible for creative content management.
• The Festival was admitted to European Festivals Association membership in 2009.
• In 2012, the Festival was chosen “Best Classical Music Event of the Year” in the 2012 Donizetti Classical Music Awards organised by the Andante magazine, and earned D-Marin Turgutreis the “Regional Special Award” by Skalite Awards.
• The entire proceeds of the Festival are donated to the Tohum Autism Foundation and the Bodrum Health Foundation for use in projects directed towards children with autism and their parents. 

The Festival is expected to receive even more attention in the years to come, providing accessibility of classical music to a wider audience.