Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say is one of a rare breed of exceptional musicians and crossover artists. He studied the piano in Ankara, Düsseldorf and Berlin. His talent as a composer was promoted early on by his first piano teacher Mithat Fenmen, who encouraged the young Fazıl Say to start his piano practice every day with improvisations on everyday themes.

His piano playing is characterized by virtuosity and temperament, wilfulness and assertiveness, as well as exceptional musicality and a broad musical horizon. His intensive interpretations can sometimes be rather unconventional. His composition style is influenced by a mix of classical and oriental music with elements of jazz.
Fazıl Say won first prize in the Young Concert Artists international auditions in New York. This led to engagements with all the major American and European orchestras and numerous renowned conductors, interpreting a broad repertoire of works ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach via the Classical and Romantic periods to contemporary music, including own compositions for the piano.

He has been ›Artist in Residence‹ at the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Konzerthaus Berlin, at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Hamburger Elbphilharmonie concerts and the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

Artistic vision and tireless cultural involvement: these are the qualities which have made the American-Israeli conductor Steven Sloane famous across the world. Right from an early age, Sloane has always had a major influence on festivals and opera houses such as the Spoleto Festival in Charleston or Opera North in Leeds. He has served as Principal Conductor of the American Composers’ Orchestra and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and is a regular guest with world renowned ensembles such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsche Sinfonie Orchester Berlin. In addition, he is also a much sought-after opera conductor with engagements at many major venues such as the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen, the Frankfurt Oper or the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as at festivals from Salzburg to New York.

Under his long-standing leadership as Music Director, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra has become one of Germany’s foremost orchestras and recently performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at the South Korean Tongyeong Festival in 2018 as well as impressing audiences in a production of Hans Werner Henze’s ›Raft of the Medusa‹ at the Ruhrtrienniale. Since the beginning of the 2018/19 season Steven Sloane has been serving as First Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor at the Opera Malmö. As Professor at Berlin’s University of the Arts, where he has been since autumn 2013, he has been working on realising his dream of an International Conducting Academy.