The Aydın Gün Encouragement Award for 2019 goes to young violinist Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev

Awarded every year since 2012 by İKSV to promising young classical musicians, the Aydın Gün Encouragement Award of 20,000 TL is granted to the 22 year-old violinist Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev in its eighth edition.

Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev was born in 1997 into a family of esteemed musicians and started playing the violin when he was 5 years old. At the age of 8, he gave his first orchestral concert with his grandfather Server Ganiyev, and that same year he was admitted to the Zurich Conservatory Young Student program. At the age of 10, Elvin made his debut with Moscow Virtuosi under the baton of Vladimir Spivakov at the Kremlin Palace. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Spain, from the class of Professor Zakhar Bron. Ganiyev is currently pursuing his Master’s Degree at Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany, studying with Professor Krzysztof Wegrzyn.

>> Click here to view the awardees’ list of the Aydın Gün Encouragement Award.

Ganiyev has always performed with renowned conductors, such as Zubin Mehta, Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sasha Goetzel, Gürer Aykal, Rauf Abdullayev, Placido Domingo, Jules van Hessen and David Bernard among others. He has worked with masters, such as Ivri Gitlis, Vadim Repin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maxim Vengerov, Cihat Aşkın, Fazıl Say and Viktor Pikayzen in prominent concert halls throughout the world such as Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Kremlin Palace and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Opera Garnier Monte-Carlo, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Athena Megaro Hall, Zurich Tonhalle, the Royal Albert Hall, St. John’s Smith Square in London.

Among the many esteemed orchestras that Ganiyev has performed with are Moscow Virtuosi, Shanghai Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Philharmonic, Borusan Philharmonic, Azerbaijani Philharmonic, Qatar Philharmonic, Odessa Philharmonic, New Russia Orchestra, BMTG NY Chamber Orchestra, Bilkent Chamber & Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Bron Chamber Orchestra, Burgogne Lyric Orchestra, Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra, İstanbul State Symphony, Bursa State Symphony, Antalya State Symphony, Eskişehir State Symphony, İzmir State Symphony, and Albanian RTSH Orchestra. He has received numerous awards and honours at prestigious international competitions including David Oistrakh Violin Competition, Lipinski-Wieniawski Competition for Young Musicians, Golden Medal Berliner International Music Competition, and Vienna International Music Competition to name a few.

The Aydın Gün Encouragement Award is granted to a young musician who’s studying or working in the classical music field every year. The selection committee is headed by İKSV General Director Görgün Taner, and consists of conductor Rengim Gökmen, opera director Yekta Kara, violinist Cihat Aşkın, Borusan Sanat General Manager Ahmet Erenli, and İKSV Deputy Director General Yeşim Gürer Oymak.

Who is Aydın Gün?

Born in Adana in 1917, Aydın Gün contributed greatly to the development of opera in Turkey. He was among the founders of the Istanbul and Ankara State Operas and took on the role of General Director at both organisations. In addition to the European Council Culture Award, Gün was also honoured with the State Artist title in 1988. Also one of the founders of İKSV, Gün undertook the role of General Director, spearheading many of the foundation’s events. He was the Artistic Director of the International Istanbul Festival for 20 years; launched the Contemporary Art Exhibitions, which later became the Istanbul Biennial, and was also among the founders of the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition. Gün moved to Berlin with his family towards the end of the 1990’s, where he continued his work in the field of art, and passed away in November 2007, at the age of 90.

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