Historical
Piano Concerts Series
About
the Musicians
Zeynep Ucbasaran
Pianist Zeynep Ucbasaran
started her music studies at age four at the İstanbul Conservatory. She
has her Concert Artist Diploma from the Liszt Academy of Music,
Budapest. Hungary. After advanced studies at the Hochschule für Musik,
Freiburg, Germany, she obtained her MA and DMA degrees in Piano
Performance from the University of Southern California. Among other
professional awards such as the American Liszt Society Award, Ucbasaran
was a prize-winner in the 1996 and 2000 Los Angeles Liszt Competitions.
She was designated a "woman of distinction in the year 2003" by the
Daughters of Atatürk organization in the USA. She has given recitals
and concerts in many countries. She made her Wigmore Hall debut in
November 2004 and issued CDs of the music of Liszt, Schubert, Mozart,
Scarlatti, Beethoven, and twentieth century composers such as Saygun,
Bernstein and Muczynski to critical acclaim. The Gramophone
Magazine, remarked that "An agreeable elegance pervades pianist Zeynep
Ucbasaran's playing".
Her
recordings include the scherzos and polonaises of F. Chopin, complete
piano sonatas of W. A. Mozart and the piano music of A. Saygun issued
by Naxos International. As a part of her unique project of three-piano
music of international composers, she has performed with her colleagues
Sergio Gallo and Miguel Ortega Chavaldas and realized the premiere
recording of Saygun's Poem, Op. 73 for three pianos.
Her
performance of works that Franz Liszt performed in Istanbul when he
visited there in 1847 was broadcast by the European Broadcasting
Union (EBU) to all of Europe in the 200th birthday celebrations of
Liszt in October 2011. A compilation of these selections
interpreted by Ucbasaran was released in 2013 under the title "Liszt in
Istanbul”. She has recently completed her project of recording the
complete set of Mozart’s variations for piano.
Ucbasaran
has given master classes and lecture recitals throughout the USA,
Brazil, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. As a part of her recent activities,
in addition to concertizing as a solo performer, Ucbasaran has toured
with international musicians in various chamber music recitals. These
collaborations will continue into the next season of her musical
activities.
Further information can be found on her website www.zupiano.com
