SAY Fazil

Biography

(14.01.1970, Ankara, Turkey) – pianist, composer.

He studied at the Conservatory in class of Mithat Fenmen (Ankara), since 1987 continued his education in class of David Levin at the R. Schumann School of Music in Düsseldorf, then in Berlin (Germany). He regularly took master classes from M. Pressler, which resulted in a victory at the International Competition of Young Concert Artists in New York (1994).

2005-2016 – collaborated with musical groups: Dortmund Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonic, Frankfurt Opera; performed in Paris, Tokyo, Munich, gave concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York. Prominent partners include violinist Patricia Kopachinskaja, Maxim Vengerov, Minetti Quartett, Modigliani Quartett, Nicholas Altstadt, Marianne Crebassa. The French newspaper “Figaro” called him a genius, his recordings of the works of J.-S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, L. V. Beethoven, G. Gershwin, I. F. Stravinsky have received high acclaim of the critics and won several prizes, including three ECHO Klassik awards.

Composer talent manifested itself in the early years. In 1987, the composition “Black Hymns” (Siyah İlahiler) was presented in Berlin as part of the celebration of the city’s 750th anniversary. Subsequent compositions: four symphonies, two oratorios and numerous works for piano and chamber music, among which the Second Piano Concerto “Silk Road” (1994), “Four Dances of Hodja Nasreddin” for piano solo (1991), the oratorio “Nazim” to the verses of Nazim Hikmet (2001) are mostly recognized. The synthesis of academic traditions with elements of jazz and Turkish folk music is a distinctive feature of his works. On the theme of “Turkish Rondo” by W. Mozart, he composed a variation in a jazz style; in 2006 in Vienna (Austria) the premiere of his ballet “Patara” for soprano, piano and Turkish folk instruments on the theme of the piano sonata by W. Mozart took place.

To the music from his subsequent works – “Istanbul Symphony” (op. 28), “1001 Nights in the Harem” (op. 25) and the arrangement of the Turkish folk song “Katibim” – the ballet “Salome» at the “Astana Ballet” Theatre was staged by the choreographer M. Avakhri (2018).

In December 2016 he was awarded the International Beethoven Prize for Human Rights, Peace, Freedom, Poverty Reduction and Inclusion (Bonn, Germany); in autumn 2017 he received the Music Prize (Duisburg, Germany).

Links

• https://fazilsay.com/