Who is Gülsin Onay?

Gülsin Onay was born on September 12, 1954 in a mansion in Erenköy, Istanbul. She is the daughter of a German father and a Turkish mother. Mother Gülen Erim is a pianist and father Joachim Reusch is a violinist. Joachim Resuch, whose mother left his music career to marry his wife, whom he met during his conservatory education in Germany, and became a Turkish citizen, was dealing with trade in Turkey. Coming from a musician family, Gülsin Onay's first piano teacher is her mother. She gave her first concert at the age of six on TRT Istanbul Radio. He was given special education in Ankara by Mithat Fenmen and Ahmet Adnan Saygun for two years, and at the age of 12, he was sent to Paris Conservatory as one of the wonderful children through Ulvi Cemal Erkin. The family settled in Paris. At the age of sixteen, he graduated from the conservatory with first place in piano and chamber music.

He continues his musical life, which he started as a "wonderful boy", by working with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. An exceptional Chopin performer is recognized internationally. He is also recognized as the world's most powerful interpreter of composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun and leads the way in promoting Saygun's works to the world.

He is the owner of the title of State Artist given by the Turkish state . He is the soloist of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and is a regular artist at Bilkent University. He has also been a UNICEF Turkey Goodwill Ambassador since 2003.

He was born in 1954 in Istanbul. His mother is Turkish pianist Gülen Erim and his father is German violinist Joachim Reusch. He is the grandson of mathematician Kerim Erim. Married to pianist Ersin Onay between 1973-83, Gülsin Onay is the mother of artist Erkin Onay.

He started playing the piano at the age of three and a half with his mother. He gave his first concert at the age of six at TRT Istanbul Radio.

He was sent to France at the age of 12, after giving special education in Ankara for two years by Mithat Fenmen and Ahmed Adnan Saygun, within the scope of the Gifted Children's Law. Working with Pierre Sancan, Monique Haas, Pierre Fiquet and Nadia Boulanger, she graduated from the Paris Conservatory with the "Premier Prix du Piano" degree at the age of 16. After his graduation, he continued his studies with Bernhard Ebert.

Gülsin Onay's international music career spans 5 countries in 80 continents, from Venezuela to Japan. The artist began her international musical career with awards won at major international competitions, including Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud (Paris) and Ferrucio Busoni (Bolzano). The pianist, who met with the audience in all the major music centers of the world, gave concerts with important orchestras such as Dresden Staatskapelle, British Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, British Chamber Orchestra, Japanese Philharmonic, Munich Radio Symphony, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony. He has played with Vladimir Ashkenazy, Erich Bergel, Michael Boder, Andrey Boreyko, Jorg Faerber, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Edward Gardner, Neeme Jarvi, Emmanuel Krivine, Ingo Metzmacher, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jose Serebrier, Vassily Sinaisky, Stanislaw Wislocki, and Lothar Zagros. is located.

Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, London Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Paris Salle Gaveau, Washington DC National Gallery of Art and New York Miller Theater are among the halls where the artist gave concerts. Approval; He takes part in important music festivals of the world such as Berlin, Warsaw Autumn, Granada, Würzburg Mozart Festival, Newport, Schleswig-Holstein and Istanbul.

He is the Art Consultant of the Gümüşlük Classical Music Festival, which started in 2004.

Having won the admiration of music authorities with her Rachmaninov interpretations, Gülsin Onay is also internationally recognized as an exceptional Chopin performer. The Polish Government honored Gülsin Onay with the Polish State Order for her Chopin comments. Described as the world's most powerful interpreter of his teacher Saygun, Onay has performed the works of the composer, which he does not miss both in his concert programs and in his recordings, in accompaniment of important orchestras in numerous countries.

In addition to Saygun, Hubert Stuppner's 2nd Piano Concerto, Bujor Hoinic Piano Concerto, Jean-Louis Petit Gemmes and Muhiddin Dürrüoğlu have dedicated their piano works Bosphorus to the artist. Famous virtuoso Marc-Andre Hamelin composed Prelude for Gülsin Onay and Denis Dufour composed Avalanche. Onay performed the world premieres of Saygun's 2nd Piano Concerto and the concertos of Stuppner, Tabakov and Hoinic, which were dedicated to her.

The American company VAI released the Grieg and Saint-Saëns concertos under the title “Gülsin Onay in Concert” on DVD in March 2009 and the artist's Miami Piano Festival recital with the title “Gülsin Onay Live in Recital” in February 2011.

The Mozart Piano Concertos KV 466&467, recorded by Onay accompanied by the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Jörg Faerber, were released in Turkey in the fall of 2010 under the Lila label. Her album, in which she performed both Saygun concertos, was released in October 2008 with the German CPO label. His album, in which he performed the Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky piano concertos, released in 2007, was highly praised by many virtuosos and critics, especially Vladimir Ashkenazy. Gülsin Onay's nearly twenty album recordings reflect the artist's repertoire as well as her interpretative power.

Süleymanpaşa Municipality, which named a street in Tekirdağ after Gülsin Onay, organizes “Gülsin Onay Piano Days” in the name of the artist.

State Artist Gülsin Onay is the soloist of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and is a permanent artist at Bilkent University.

Awards

• State Artist (1987)
• Bogazici University Honorary Doctorate[8] (1988)
• UNICEF Turkish National Committee Goodwill Ambassador (2003)
• Hacettepe University Honorary Doctorate (2007)
• Polish Order of Merit (2007)
• Sevda Cenap And Music Foundation 2007 Honorary Award Gold Medal
• Melvin Jones Fellowship (2012)
• 42nd Istanbul Music Festival Honorary Award (2014)[4]
• Bodrum Music Festival Honorary Award (2018)