Built originally as an opera house, Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) in Taksim Square (tel. 0212/251-5600) houses the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet, the Symphony Orchestra, and the State Theatre Company. Tickets are absurdly low at 7YTL to 17YTL ($6.10-$15/£2.70-£6.50) and are usually available for purchase in the month of, as well as the day of, the performance. During the summer months, AKM hosts the Istanbul Arts Festival, but because of high demand, tickets may be hard to come by. For a schedule of performances, check out the government's website at www.kultur.gov.tr or log onto www.mymerhaba.com for upcoming events.
A new classical venue for the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet is the restored Süreyya Pasa building in Kadiköy, designed by parliamentarian Süreyya Ilmen between 1924 and 1927 as an opera house. No operas were ever staged here, however, as the incomplete building lacked a stage. The restoration took 2 years and was completed in December 2007, and now the Kadiköy Municipality Süreyya Opera House (Eski Süreyya Sinemasi Kadiköy; tel. 0212/251-1023) will host three performances a week of the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. There is a box-office on-site, but tickets can also be purchased at the Atatürk Cultural Center. The 2008 season schedule features some of opera's best-loved works, plus a number of new Turkish ones. For more information, log onto www.idobale.com.
The annual International Istanbul Festival (tel. 0212/334-0700; www.iksv.org) is organized into four separate arts festivals averaging over 50 events yearly. The festival kicks off with the Film Festival in April, including two national and international competitions. The 2003 festival screened over 175 films in a variety of venues in Beyoglu and Kadiköy. The theater section of the festival brings companies from all over Europe and takes place in May, with one or two offerings in English. At the end of October or in early November, selected international artists come together for the Biennale, but the big to-do takes place in June/July with the International Istanbul Music Festival, representing the worlds of opera, jazz, classical music, and ballet in evocative settings like the St. Irene, and featuring world-renowned performers like Wynton Marsalis or the traditional performance of Der Entführung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio) appropriately staged in Topkapi Palace. A separate Jazz Festival, sponsored by Efes Pilsen, takes place in November in various venues around town, including local jazz clubs, cultural centers, and the open-air theater above Taksim. Tickets to all concerts and performances are available either at the box office or via Biletix (www.biletix.com).
Istanbul Biennale 2009 -- Istanbul has been celebrating a Biennale since 1987, but it wasn't until 2005, perhaps because of the anchorage of the new Istanbul Modern Museum, that the Biennale hit a home run. Artists were clustered around the revived neighborhood of Galata in venues that included an old apartment block, a tobacco depot, a Customs warehouse, and an office building. Previous exhibitions were housed in the Imperial Mint, in the Kiz Kulesi (Maiden's Tower), in Santralistanbul (a former electric generating plant) on the Bosphorus Bridge, and in Çemberlitas Hamami.
For information on venues, tickets, and artists, contact the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Art (tel. 0212/334-0700; www.iksv.org).
