Turkish-Greek orchestra to play two concerts this year

The Turkish-Greek Youth Orchestra, a joint musical venture between the two Aegean neighbors whose seeds were sown in 2007, will give two concerts this year, the Anatolia news agency reported over the weekend. The orchestra's first concert this summer will take place on Thursday night when the ensemble takes the stage in Izmir's Sigacik Kaleici neighborhood. The concert will be conducted by the orchestra's Turkish musical director, Fazil Orhun Orhon, Anatolia reported. The second concert is set to take place next month, in Thessalonica, Greece on Sept. 14. The orchestra, made up of 52 Turkish and 50 Greek instrumentalists when it was first formed in early 2008 under art director/maestro Isin Metin, currently has 39 musicians from the two countries. Orhon told reporters over the weekend that in the four years since its inception, the orchestra has become an "inspiring cultural institution."