Newsletters
The Antalya State Symphony Orchestra (ADSO) hosted the world premiere of composer Ilyas Mirzayev's Violin Concerto No. 2, with violinist Olgu Kizilay performing the work dedicated to him for the first time at the Ataturk Cultural Center in Antalya, southern Türkiye.
Held at the center's Aspendos Hall, the concert was conducted by Greek maestro Nikos Haliassas and brought together a newly composed concerto and selections from Georges Bizet's renowned opera Carmen.
The three-movement concerto explored themes of inner conflict, the search for freedom, love and compassion. Its second movement featured a lullaby dedicated to Kizilay's newborn daughter, Dafne, bringing an emotional element to the performance.
Following the concerto's debut, the audience gave the musicians extended applause, prompting Mirzayev to come onstage.
The composer then performed his own work, Leyla, on the piano, accompanied by Kizilay and the orchestra.
The concert continued with selections from the first and second orchestral suites adapted from Bizet's Carmen, including Prelude, Aragonaise, Intermezzo, Habanera, Chanson du Toreador and Danse Boheme.
After another round of applause, the orchestra returned to Les Toreadors, one of the opera's best-known passages, for an encore.
As part of its environmental initiative, the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra presented Mirzayev, Kizilay and Haliassas with certificates confirming that trees had been donated in their names to forests in Antalya.
The donations were made in place of traditional congratulatory flowers, turning the orchestra's appreciation for the performers into contributions to nature.
The orchestra will continue its 2026-2027 concert season on Nov. 13 with an Ataturk Commemoration Concert at the same venue, honoring Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye.
Conducted by Oguzhan Balci, the program will feature pianist Salih Can Gevrek as soloist, alongside the Ismail Baha Surelsan Conservatory Polyphonic Choir under Seval Kose.
The repertoire will include Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 and a suite drawn from Muammer Sun's soundtrack for the film Kurtulus, accompanied by scenes from the production.
Tickets are available at the Ataturk Cultural Center box office and through biletinial.com.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
3 min read
