The Istanbul Festival was accredited as a member of the European Festivals Association in 1977. In 29 years, the Festival has hosted world renowned artists & groups from La Scala Philharmonic (Muti), New York Philharmonic (Kurt Masur & Zubin Mehta), Berlin Philharmonic to Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Sawallisch), Dresden Philharmonic and The Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre (Kirov Opera); from Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Kremer) to Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Mackerras & Hickox); from Tokyo String Quartet to Hilliard Ensemble; from Aldo Ciccolini to Ivo Pogorelich; from Yehudi Menuhin to Itzhak Perlman; from Julian Lloyd Webber to Mischa Maisky; from Narciso Yepes to Christopher Parkening; from Leyla Gencer to Montserrat Caballé and Elisabeth Scwartkopf; from Bolshoi Ballet to American Ballet Theatre and to Mark Morris, Mehmet Sander, Kibbutz dance companies; and such traditional music groups as Istanbul Oriental Ensemble of Burhan Öçal, Kudsi Erguner’s Tac Mahal project and Whirling Dervishes. In 1992, the Foundation was awarded the "Trophée Internationale des Arts et de la Culture" by Institut International de Promotion et de Prestige of UNESCO.

http://www.istfest.org