traditions in its short history is Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra's annual "New Year Celebration" concerts. Held in December of every year, these highly anticipated performances are known for bringing cheer and goodwill to Istanbul during the festive season, not to mention positive cultural attention, through the participation of highly regarded local and world-renowned musicians. The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra opened the 2007–2008 season in October with a concert conducted by Gürer Aykal, featuring the young Canadian violinist James Ehnes as soloist. Works by Ahmet Adnan Saygun, to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of his birth, and by Sibelius, to honour the fiftieth anniversary of his death, were performed in this concert. The concert in November was conducted by Josep Caballé-Domenech and the guest soloist was pianist Emre Şen. In the New Year Welcoming Concert in December, the orchestra under the baton of Gürer Aykal accompanied soloist Turgay Hilmi in a work written specifically for Alphorn. The guests of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra last season included conductor Andreas Schüller, Ferhan and Ferzan Önder piano duo, Ayhan Uştuk, Çağ Erçağ, Özcan Ulucan, John Lill and conductor Sascha Goetzel. In the gala concert, the orchestra hosted the prominent Philharmonia Chorus and performed Dvořák’s Requiem for the first time in Turkey. In the opening concerts on November 19 and 20, 2008, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Gürer Aykal, who recently became the Honorary Conductor of the orchestra. Proms debut and foreign popularity On 29 July 2014, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra made its debut at The Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. In this concert BİFO played Mily Balakirev's Islamey, Gustav Holst's Beni Mora, Gabriel Prokofiev's first violin concerto 1914 (BBC commission: world premiere), Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (only the ouverture), Handel's "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba", Ottorino Respighi's Belkis, Queen of Sheba and, as an encore, Ulvi Cemal Erkin's Koçekçe. After the concert especially at the English press the concert got positive reviews. The Telegraph reporter Ivan Hewett wrote that the concert was "superbly rich". The Guardian'''s Tim Ashley wrote that Sascha Goetzel is more than a conductor, is a total entertainer. The same day, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra launched their third CD, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade'' by Onyx Classics in Great Britain. Artistic director and principal conductor After a year-long selection process in the 2007/2008 season with guest conductors from four different countries, an international jury awarded