From Istanbul with Love | Kronberg Festival 2026 „Courage!“

Fazıl Say is one of the most distinctive artistic figures of our time. As a pianist and composer, he blends classical virtuosity with Turkish musical culture, jazz, improvisation, and his own unmistakable musical language. At the same time, he embodies the courage to take a stand even outside the concert hall and to champion artistic freedom.

Together with the ensemble Les Essences, led by Önder Baloglu, he takes the audience on a musical journey between Istanbul and Europe. Önder Baloglu’s *İstanbul Sarmanı* tells the story of Istanbul’s golden cat, while Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 meets the intermezzo from Johann Strauss’s *A Thousand and One Nights*.

With his own Chamber Symphony, Fazıl Say brings these diverse influences together. The result is a program that bridges European traditions and Turkish musical culture, past and present—vibrant, personal, and full of rhythmic energy.

A concert about cultural transitions and how a new, distinct musical language can emerge from diverse roots.

More information about the Kronberg Festival and the concert.