Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra making history at this year’s BBC Proms

BIRO performing in Istanbul in 2011, photo by Ebru Ulufer

CULTURE / MUSIC

Next week, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (BIPO) will become the first Turkish orchestra to perform at the BBC Proms in its 120-year history. Conducted by Austrian Sascha Goetzel, who is also making his proms debut, BIPO will perform a classical celebration of the Orient at the Royal Albert Hall.

Called Oriental Promise, Tuesday night’s programme will allow the audience to: “Sneak into Mozart’s harem, witness the magnificent Queen of Sheba in portraits by both Handel and Respighi, and enjoy the insistent rhythms and swaying hips of Balakirev’s oriental fantasy Islamey.”

Gabriel Prokofyev

Guest violinist Daniel Hope will be performing a solo in the final performance in BIPO’s programme; the world premiere of a new violin concerto composed and produced by Gabriel Prokofyev to commemorate the First World War. Prokofyev is the grandchild of the great Russian composer Sergey Prokofyev. 

Held annually, the BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts predominantly hosted at the Royal Albert Hall in central London. The festival was founded in 1895, in an era when such events were held outdoors allowing people to stroll around as the orchestra played, hence the word ‘Proms’ to describe promenade.

The BBC took over the running of the festival in 1927 and it now described as “the world’s largest and most democratic musical festival”. This year, BIPO will be among 22 other foreign orchestral ensembles making their debut. Ticket prices to concerts are kept deliberately low to allow maximum access to the British public.

A few tickets are still available for Oriental Promise and are priced between £7.50 and £38. Those who can’t make the event can listen to it live via BBC Radio 3. The BIPO concert will also be televised on BBC Four on 31 August.

Show date: Tuesday 29^th July 2014

Venue address:  Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP

Starts: 6.30pm-9pm, with interval

Tickets: £7.50 - £38

For tickets & info:  BIPO BBC Proms concert at Royal Albert Hall