Ayşegül Sarıca (28 May 1935 – 10 March 2023) was a Turkish concert pianist, pedagogue.

Life

Ayşegül Sarıca was born into an Ottoman military family in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey in 1935.

Ahmet İzzet Pasha Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

(1864–1937), one of the last Ottoman

grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

s was her maternal grandfather. In 1955, she married Nejat Diyarbekirli and gave birth to a son named Osman and a daughter Zeynep.

Music training

Prior to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many

German people , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

had escaped from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and emigrated to Turkey. Gertrude Isaac, a pianist was one of them, and she gave Sarıca piano lessons when she was as young as five years old. She continued her study in the

Istanbul Municipal Conservatory The Istanbul University State Conservatory ( Turkish: İstanbul Üniversitesi Devlet Konservatuarı) is a music, theatre, dance university in Istanbul. It is the oldest conservatory and the oldest continually operating music school in Turkey. It ...

. There, she became a student of

Ferdi Statzer Ferdi Statzer (né Friedrich von Statzer; 1906 – 17 June 1974) was an eminent Austrian pedagogue, pianist, conductor and composer. A native Vienna, Viennese, his musical career transplanted him to Turkey, where he became an influential teach ...

. In 1944, while she was only nine years old, she gave her first recital in

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...

Halkevi Halkevleri (Turkish: ''Halkevi'' literally meaning "people's houses", also translatable as "community centres") is the name of a Turkish community enlightenment project. They were founded in 1932 and entirely abolished in 1951. Background The Tu ...

, Istanbul. In 1951, she went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, to study at the National Concervatory of Paris.

Lucette Descaves Lucette Descaves (1 April 1906 – 15 April 1993) was a French pianist and teacher, whose pupils included Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Geneviève Joy, Brigitte Engerer, Pascal Rogé, and Katia and Marielle Labèque. Biography Born in Paris, daughter o ...

and Pierre Pasquier were her teachers. In 1953, she graduated with honors.

Music career

After 1968, she became the piano soloist of the

Presidential Symphony Orchestra The Presidential Symphony Orchestra ( tr, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası), with headquarters in Ankara, is the presidential symphony orchestra of the Republic of Turkey. Its history dates back as far as 1826, making it one of the first s ...

of Turkey. She gave concerts in such countries as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Soviet Union, Hungary, former Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Australia. In concerts, she was accompanied often by Ayla Erduran, a close friend and a violinist. Between 1991 and 2000, she served as an academic for musicology at

Bilkent University Bilkent University ( tr, Bilkent Üniversitesi) is a private university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by Prof. İhsan Doğramacı in 1984, with the aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research. It is constan ...

's music master program. Currently, she serves in the Dr Erol Üçer Music Research Center of

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

Awards

Sarıca received an honorable mention in the International Munich Piano Competition in 1954. In 1957, she won the special prize, "Gabriel Fauré Association," in 1959 she won one special prize "City of Paris" in the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition. In 1971, she was given the honorary title of

State Artist State Artist ( tr, Devlet Sanatçısı, also sometimes translated as "National Artist") is an honorary title granted to prominent artists by the government of Turkey for their contributions to the Turkish culture. It was established in 1971 by the ...

by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

.Nkfu Information page
/ref> In 1970 she was decorated with golden "Beethoven medal" for her Beethoven interpretations by German Ministry of Culture. In 1974, she received the ''Chevalier de I’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2006, she was awarded the “Merit of Honor" in music by the Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation."

References

External links