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 characterised 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.

Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this collaboration has been the acclaimed, globally celebrated performances of the Beethoven cycle, for which Järvi received numerous awards including the ›Echo Klassik Conductor of the Year‹ award and the prestigious annual ›German Record Critics‹’ award. Their Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Schumann and Brahms; both cycles also received numerous awards. Since autumn 2021, the focus has been on Joseph Haydn’s twelve London symphonies, and since 2024, an intensive exploration of Franz Schubert’s symphonies.

Paavo Järvi has been Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich since the start of the 2019/2020 season. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival, which he established in 2011. He regularly appears as a guest conductor with major orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he was named ›Artist of the Year‹ by both the British magazine Gramophone and the French magazine Diapason. This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for ›Conductor of the Year‹. Other awards include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’ Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the title ›Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres‹, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015, Paavo Järvi also received the Sibelius Medal in recognition of his work in bringing this Finnish composer’s music to a wider audience, and in 2012 he received the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. As a committed supporter of Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013.