Who is Fazıl Say?

Fazıl Say (born January 14, 1970 in Ankara), Turkish classical western music pianist and composer. He was born on January 14, 1970 in Ankara. His father is a writer, writer, writer and musicologist Ahmet Say and his mother is the pharmacist Gürgün Say. His grandfather Fazıl Say, who bears the same name, was on the Spartakusbund resistance team of Rosa Luxemburg. His father and mother divorced when he was 4 years old. Say, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, had an operation in infancy and his cleft lip was sutured. He began playing the melodica upon his doctor's suggestion to play the wind instrument.

Say, who started piano at the age of four, studied at the Ankara State Conservatory in Special Status for Gifted Children and completed the piano and composition departments of the conservatory in 1987. He continued his studies at the Düsseldorf Music Academy with a German scholarship. While receiving his diploma as a concerto soloist in 1991, he was appointed as a piano and chamber music teacher at the Berlin Academy of Design Arts and Music in 1992.

Career
His debut on the stage and television appeared in a children's festival program on April 1979, 23, playing his own composition at the age of 8, where names such as Müjdat Gezen, Sezen Aksu and Erol Evgin were guests. Say, who won first place in the Young Concert Soloists European competition in 1994, started his concert career as the winner of the intercontinental competition held in New York in 1995. On the other hand, he began to compose songs for oratorios, piano concertos, various forms of orchestra, chamber music and piano works, singing and piano. Among these works are oratorios titled Nazım and Metin Altıok Requiem, 4 piano concertos, orchestral work written in memory of Albert Einstein upon the order of the University of Zurich, and the ballet Patara, which was composed by the order of the celebration committee in Vienna on the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. he had music.

Throughout his career, Fazıl Say gave concerts with orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Sankt-Peterburg Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, French National Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony. At the closing concert of the 2007 Florence Festival, he presented an open air concert with the Florence Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, which was watched by twenty thousand people. The CD with the same title, which also includes the piano piece composed by Say, inspired by the folk song "Black Earth" by Turkish saz poet Aşık Veysel, who was the chairman of the piano jury at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007, ranked 6th on the Billboard charts in the United States. rose. The music of the 2008 Sivas '93 theater play also belongs to the artist.

Say reflected his interest in poetry and literature on his art. The albums İlk Şarkılar (2013), Yeni Şarkılar (2015) and Shu Dünyası Sırrı were the products of this interest. He took part as a soloist in the album Serenade Baðcan both in Turkey and the duo has given concerts in many countries. The artist established the Nazım Hikmet Choir in 2015 and became the general music director. The choir gave its first concert on August 29, 2015, and performed the composer's Nazım Hikmet Oratorio in this concert that took place at Bilkent Odeon Concert Hall in Ankara.

In 2008, he was appointed as "Cultural Ambassador" by the European Union.

Awards 

• European Union Piano Competition, 1991
• Young Concert Soloists Competition European Winner, 1994
• Young Concert Soloists Competition World Winner, 1995
• Radio France / Beracasa Foundation Award, 1995
• Paul A. Fish Foundation Award, 1995
• Boston Metamorphosen Orchestra Soloist Award, 1995
• Maurice Clairmont Foundation Award, 1995
• Telerama Award, 1998, 2001
• RTL Television Award, 1998
• Le Monde de la Musique Award, 2000
• Diapason d'Or (Golden Record) Award, 2000
• Classica Award, 2000
• Le Monde Award, 2000
• Austrian Radio-TV Award, 2001
• Deutsche Phono Akademie ECHO Award, 2001
• Composer of the Year Award, Andante Classical Music Awards, 2010
• Pianist of the Year Award, Andante Classical Music Awards, 2010
• Award of the 'Rheingau Music Festival', one of Germany's most important classical music events, 2013
• Echo Music Award, 2013
• International Secularism Award by the French Republican Secularism Committee, 2015
• International Beethoven Human Rights, Peace, Freedom, Fight Against Poverty and Internalization Award, 2016 

works 

His compositions 

Books 

1. 'Airplane Notes', Music Encyclopedia Publications, November 1999
2. Sorrow of Loneliness, Born Book
3. Metin Altıok Lament, Universal Press Publication
4. Written on Water, Novelist Publications

Note books 

1. 'Schwarze Hymnen for violin and piano', Verlag für Musik-Enzyklopaedie, 1987.
2. 'Nasreddin Hodja's Dances (for Piano)', Yapı Kredi Publications, Istanbul, 1990.
3. 'Fantasy Pieces (for Piano)', Yapı Kredi Publications, Istanbul, 1993.
4. 'Paganini Variations (for Piano)', Yapı Kredi Publications, Istanbul, 1995.
5. 'Sonata (for Violin and Piano)', Yapı Kredi Publications, Istanbul, 1997.
6. 'İpekyolu (Piano Concerto)', Yapı Kredi Publications, Istanbul, 1998.

Albums (CD)