BORUSAN QUARTET
WAS AT THE STRIJKKWARTET BIENNALE AMSTERDAM

11 February 2020
• NEWS

With its remarkable architecture and spectacular acoustics, Amsterdam Muziekgebouw was at the centre of the world for music lovers last week. The Strijkkwartet Biennale, organised for the second time this year between January 25 to February 1, is one of the most significant events of its kind with its rich programme that lasts from early morning to late evening. Despite being very new, the biennial hosted a total of 12.500 viewers this year with its eight-day programme that included over 50 events consisting of concerts, conferences, talks and masterclasses.

Borusan Quartet, admired by music lovers of all ages, was among the star guests of the String Quartet Biennale with three distinguished concerts and a coffee talk. The first concert titled Selected by / Borusan Quartet was a selection of String Quartet No. 4 by Vasks and String Quartet by Verdi. The encore piece of the concert was an arrangement of the Turkish folk song Karahisar Kalesi which had previously been performed by the quartet to great acclaim. This concert, which was performed on January 28 and received a standing ovation, was followed by another concert titled Extending String Quartet on January 29. Pieces consisting of the works by world-renowned Turkish composers including Fazıl Say, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Ahmed Adnan Saygun and Hasan Uçarsu were performed at the concert, which musicologist and writer Serhan Bali attended as a speaker. The third and the last Borusan Quartet concert of at the biennial was titled Early Beethoven, in tribute to the great composer’s 250th birthday. For the morning concert held at 9.30, Beethoven’s Opus 18, String Quartet No. 5 and Burhan Öcal’s work titled Eski İstanbul were performed.

In addition to these three magnificent concerts, Borusan Quartet's other event within the scope of the biennial was a coffee talk; Borusan Quartet member Esen Kıvrak attended the event which had its fun moments as well as being very productive. In addition to receiving local and international praise, The Borusan Quartet was also warmly welcomed by other biennial participants. Borusan Quartet continues its season concerts in Istanbul.

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