The Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra ( or İDSO) is a Turkish symphony

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Founded in 1945 as the Istanbul Municipality City Orchestra, its first principal conductor was Cemal Reşit Rey and Dr.Mehmet Muvaffak Goren. In 1972 it became the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra. Its current principal conductor is Erol Erdinc.

Conductors

Anatole Fistoulari Anatole Fistoulari (20 August 1907 – 21 August 1995) was one of the great British conductors of the 20th century.Obituary – Anatole Fistoulari. ''Opera'', October 1995, Vol.46 No.10, p1172. A child prodigy, he later conducted around Europe and ...

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

, Rolf Agop,

Ilarion Ionescu-Galați Ilarion Ionescu-Galați (born 17 September 1937) is a Romanian violinist and orchestra conductor. Early years Born in Iași, he started to study music with his father (an amateur musician). He graduated from the Music Conservatory in Buchares ...

, Tadeusz Strugala, Alexander Schwinck,

Vladimir Fedoseev Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev (; born 16 February 1995) is a Russian chess grandmaster playing for Slovenia. He is the reigning European champion in Rapid chess and Chess960. He competed in the Chess World Cup in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023. Ca ...

, Erich Bergel, Jean Perrisson,

Cemal Reşit Rey Cemal Reşit Rey (; 25 October 1904 – 7 October 1985) was a Turkish people, Turkish composer, pianist, screenwriter, script writer and Conducting, conductor. He was well known for a string of successful and popular Turkish-language operettas fo ...

Hikmet Şimşek Hikmet Şimşek (1924, Pervari – 12 October 2001, Ankara) was a Turkish people, Turkish conductor of Western classical music. Life His father was an officer. He was born in Pervari (of Siirt Province). But the family soon moved to Konya. In 1936, ...

Gürer Aykal Gürer Aykal (born May 22, 1942) is a Turkish conductor and adjunct professor at Bilkent University. He has been the musical director and principal conductor of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra since 1999. Education Aykal was born ...

, Rengin Gökmen, Demirhan Altuğ, Mircea Basarab

Soloists

Igor Oistrakh, André Navarra,

Leonid Kogan Leonid Borisovich Kogan (; ; 14 November 1924 – 17 December 1982) was a preeminent Soviet violinist during the 20th century. Many consider him to be among the greatest violinists of the 20th century. In particular, he is considered to have be ...

, Vaclav Hudecek, Tedd Joselson, Heinrich Schiff,

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. Rampal popularised the flute in the post–World War II years, recovering flute compositions from the Baroque era, and spurring contemporary composers, ...

, Sabine Meyer,

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer (; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust. His mother had ...

, James Tocco, Lazar Berman,

Maurice Steger Maurice Steger (born 1971 in Winterthur, Switzerland) is a Swiss recorder player and conductor, mostly in Baroque music. Career Maurice Steger is a frequent guest soloist with leading Baroque ensembles such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berli ...

Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (; born 14 November 1942), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted to the Moscow Conservatory. She later studied with Mstislav Rostrop ...

İdil Biret İdil Biret (born 21 November 1941) is a Turkish concert pianist. Education Biret began her lessons at the age of five with Mithat Fenmen, who had studied under Nadia Boulanger and Alfred Cortot. When she was seven, the Turkish parliament ena ...

Suna Kan Suna Kan (21 October 1936 – 11 June 2023) was a Turkish violinist who studied in France and appeared internationally. She was a soloist and concert master of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra for 44 years. She was professor of violin at th ...

, Ayşegül Sarıca,

Ayla Erduran Ayla Erduran (22 August 1934 – 7 January 2025) was a Turkish classical violinist. She studied in Istanbul, Paris, the US and Moscow. A fifth place prize in the 1957 Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition opened an international career for her. S ...

, Verda Ermen,

Leyla Gencer Leyla Gencer (, née Çeyrekgil; 10 October 192810 May 2008) also known as La Diva Turca was a Turkish operatic soprano. Gencer was a notable '' bel canto'' soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980 ...

, Suzanna Mildonian, Kostas Kotsiolis,

Narciso Yepes Narciso Yepes (14 November 19273 May 1997) was a Spanish classical guitar, guitarist. He is considered one of the finest virtuoso classical guitarists of the twentieth century. Biography Yepes was born into a family of humble origin in Lorca, ...

, Ratimir Martinović

External links

Official website
Musical groups established in 1945 Turkish symphony orchestras Culture in Istanbul Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Turkey) Musical groups established in 1972 Symphony orchestras {{orchestra-stub