Turkey's first international opera and ballet days are set to begin at the ancient city of Ephesus, organized by the State Opera and Ballet between Sept. 16 and Sept. 22.

The details of the "Ephesus Opera and Ballet Days" were given at a press conference at İzmir State Opera and Ballet's (İZDOB) Elhamra Stage. The Ephesus Opera and Ballet Days event will offer an opening concert, an opera and a ballet.

The "Gala Concert" of the İzmir State Opera and Ballet will kick of the event on Sept. 16 and arias and duets from Guiseppe Verdi's "Aida," "Il Trovatore," "Rigoletto" and "La Traviata" operas, along with Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme" and "Tosca" operas as well as works by Charles Gounod, Jacques Offenbach, Gaetano Donizetti and Ruggero Leoncavallo will also be featured.

The concert will be conducted by maestro Tulio Varas accompanied by Italian soloist soprano Daniela Cappiello and tenor Gianluca Terranova.

On Tuesday, Sept. 19, one of the most striking examples of the Turquerie genre, which resulted in some of the most unforgettable composers, compositions and works in Europe thanks to its base in Ottoman culture, will also be performed by the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet.

Directed by Yekta Kara, "The Abduction from the Seraglio" of Mozart will be performed in Ephesus.

The İzmir-Ephesus Opera and Bale Days will close with the "Romeo and Juliet" ballet. It will be performed by the İzmir State Opera and Ballet on Friday, Sept. 22. This famous work of Tchaikovsky, based on Shakespeare's work, will awe the audience with the choreography of Volkan Ersoy and Armağan Davran.