Borusan String Quartet - 2010 ICMEC Gold Medal Winner

Founded in 2005, the Borusan String Quartet comprises of musicians from the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. Gerhard Schulz, a member of the Alban Berg Quartet, serves as musical consultant to the Quartet, which also participates in the master classes given by the Juilliard String Quartet. The Borusan String Quartet performs concerts both in Turkey and overseas. Their repertoire consists of string quartets by Beethoven, Mozart, Boccherini, Grieg, Borodin, Schubert, Haydn, Usmanbaş and Aykal. The Quartet is formed of Esen Kıvrak (first violin), Olgu Kızılay (second violin), Efdal Altun (viola) and Çağ Erçağ (cello).

 

A graduate of Izmir State Conservatoire, Esen Kıvrak completed his education at the Vienna Music Academy and since then performed in concerts, recordings and international tours with orchestras such as the Baden State Opera, the Vienna United Philharmonic, and the Vienna Symphonietta. As a soloist he appeared with leading national orchestras in Turkey and Europe. In addition to being a violinist at the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Kıvrak is also the concertmaster of Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. He performs on a 1714 A. Stradivarius provided by the Borusan Center for Culture and Arts.

 

Olgu Kızılay started his education at the Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir and continued under Joshua Epstein at the Strasbourg National Conservatoire where he also earned his PhD. While in France, he recorded CDs of various chamber music concerts and contemporary composers and performed as a guest soloist with the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Mulhouse Symphonic and the Bas-Rhin Opera Orchestras. Having performed with leading orchestras of Turkey upon his return, Kızılay is principal of the second violins in the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic and performs on a 1662 Nicolo Amati-made violin provided by the Borusan Center for Culture and Arts.

 

A member of Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic since 1997, Efdal Altun graduated from Hacettepe University’s Ankara State Conservatoire in 1992 and actively performed in many chamber music concerts in Turkey and abroad with Turkish chamber and symphonic orchestras as well as Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, the Pommersfelden Symphonic Orchestra (as group leader), Das Treffen Opera (as principal) and the Macedonia Philharmonic Orchestra. He lectured in Eskişehir and Istanbul Technical Universities between 1992-2008. Efdal Altun performs on a 1725 Tetore viola provided by the Borusan Center for Culture and Arts.

 

Çağ Erçağ graduated from the Hacettepe University State Conservatoire in 1997 and worked as a research assistant until his assignment in the Antalya State Symphony where he performed as principal cello until 2004. He gave concerts with artists such as Gürer Aykal, Fazıl Say, Ayla Erduran, Ayşegül Sarıca, Robert Cohen, Alexander Rudin and Daniel Grosgurin and participated in the CD recording of Fazıl Say’s Metin Altıok Oratorio. Solo cellist of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Erçağ is also the Artistic Director of Şişli Symphony Orchestra and a member of Çellistanbul, a cello quartet founded in 2002. He performs on a 1740 Petrus Guarneri cello to the purchase of which photographer and architect Ahmet Ertuğ is contributing.