Introduction

Borusan Center for Culture & Arts

With a deep social responsibility consciousness, the Borusan Group established the Borusan Center for Culture & Arts on October 15, 1997. Today its activities are operated from its headquarters building at No. 213 Istiklal Caddesi, an architecturally charming edifice nestled in the heart of Beyoğlu, Istanbul’s prime culture and arts district.

The Borusan Center for Culture and Arts is a member of the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM) and the European Music Council (EMC) and organizes the annual Mediterranean Contemporary Music Days. It pursues its music activities through its prominent Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Borusan Chamber Orchestra, the Borusan String Quartet and the Borusan Children’s Choir, as well as its Music Library.

The Borusan Center for Culture & Arts is also the coordination center of Ertuğ & Kocabıyık publications. Ertuğ & Kocabıyık publish exquisite art volumes introducing the glories of the Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman and Hellenistic periods through the successful partnership of eminent architect and photographer Ahmet Ertuğ and Borusan Holding Chairman of the Board Ahmet Kocabıyık.

Additionally, since 2005, The Borusan Center for Culture & Arts provides an annual music scholarship abroad for an aspiring musician. Funds for this unique endowment are raised through the innovative “Guest Conductor” series, in which an elite personality from the business world conducts the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra in a special annual concert.

Since the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) was established in 1973, Borusan has been one of its staunchest allies and supporters, particularly of the annual International Istanbul Music Festival. In a landmark occurrence in 2006, Borusan Holding signed a ten-year agreement with IKSV to become the main sponsor of this preeminent event in Istanbul’s annual cultural calendar.