into Istanbul

»Istanbul is the interface between east and west – not only in geographical, but also in cultural terms. The idea of transforming the intangible spirit of the city into intangible sounds is incredibly beautiful and rare – it opens up very many different possibilities.« Vladimir Tarnopolski

Istanbul, the metropolis of three empires and a multicultural melting pot, is the only city that straddles two continents. One of the oldest cities in the world it looks back on a checkered history during which the borders between orient and occident frequently changed: founded as Byzantium, this metropolis on the Bosporus became the center of Christendom as Constantinople and finally took its current name as the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Its cosmopolitan importance increasingly dwindled over the centuries until it finally lost its capital status to Ankara in 1923. However, in social, economic and cultural terms it remains the center of modern Turkey. Still today Istanbul has both a European and an Asian face – a living mosaic of different cultures and religions.