LONDON (VIP-NEWS) — Istanbul Jazz Festival Director Pelin Opcin will continue her professional life as Director of Programming at Serious, promoters of the EFG London Jazz Festival, as of 1 February 2018.
Director of the festival since 2005, Pelin Opcin is starting her new post at the beginning of February as Director of Programming at Serious, producers EFG London Jazz Festival, one of the world`s most comprehensive jazz festivals.
Opcin will continue to serve as Director of Istanbul Jazz Festival simultaneously with her new assignment until the end of the 25th Istanbul Jazz Festival. The 25th Istanbul Jazz Festival programme, prepared under the direction of Pelin Opcin and Assistant Director Harun Izer, will be announced in the coming days.
During her studies in Molecular Biology and Genetics of Bogazici University, Pelin Opcin actively took part in several cultural events, contributing to the university’s cultural and social diversity. Having decided to pursue a career in the arts, she started working for the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts in 1999, acting as Istanbul Jazz Festival Director since 2005. She has been responsible for the artistic programming and administration of Istanbul Jazz Festival, as well as additional year-round music projects, audience development and education programmes of the festival. Throughout her directorship, she introduced and developed many novelties in the festival, focusing especially on collaborative projects with artists from Turkey and abroad, contributing to the international success of artists from Turkey. She also planted the seeds of the Young Jazz series to encourage the participation of young jazz artists in the festival. With several free events and new venues introduced into the festival programme each year, she successfully increased the festival’s outreach.
Opcin took part in the organization of the International Jazz Day celebrations in Istanbul in 2013, organized by UNESCO & Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (Washington D.C, USA). She continued her involvement in the International Jazz Day as a member of the advisory committee for UNESCO and Thelonious Monk Institute in 2017 during the selection process of host cities for the years 2018 and 2019. She is General Secretary at TESDER (Association of Event, Entertainment, C&A operators – Turkey), an instructor at Bilgi University’s Department of Arts and Cultural Management, lecturing on Managing Arts and Cultural Institutions, and a member of IJFO (International Jazz Festivals Organisation), representing Istanbul Jazz Festival.
