Filiz Ali (born 30 September 1937) is a Turkish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

. She studied piano at the State Conservatory of Music in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Graduating from

Ferhunde Erkin Ferhunde Erkin (née Ferhunde Remzi) (June 8, 1909 – July 11, 2007) was a Turkish pianist born in Istanbul. Ferhunde Remzi started her first lessons in Bandırma with her father Ali Remzi Yiğitgüden's guidance when her brother Necdet Remzi Ata ...

's class in 1958, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Ali completed her studies at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

Boston, MA Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

, where she studied with David Barnett, and at the

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School ca ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with Frank Sheridan. She holds a degree in Advanced Musical Studies from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

where she was a

Chevening Scholar The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that lets foreign students with leadership qualities study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The Chevening Scholarshi ...

. Filiz Ali was the head of the Musicology Department of

Mimar Sinan University The Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University ( tr, Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi, or MSGSÜ) is a Turkish public university dedicated to higher education in the fine arts. It is located in the Fındıklı neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, Istanbu ...

in Istanbul between 1990 and 2005, also founder and director of

Ayvalık Ayvalık () is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of Balıkesir province. The town centre is connected to Cunda Island by a causeway and is surrounded by the archipelago of Ayvalık Islands, which fac ...

International Music Academy since 1998. She produced music programmes for the

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish : ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio provider in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio ...

from 1962 to 1995 and has been the regular music critique for major daily newspapers including ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pr ...

'', ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'', '' Yeni Yüzyıl'' and ''

Radikal ''Radikal'' () was a daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. From 1996 it was published by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group. Although Radikal did not endorse a particular political alignment, it was generally considered ...

''. She was the founding Artistic Director of the CRR Concert Hall in Istanbul between 1989 - 1992. Ali has been the Musical Advisor of the International

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

Festival since 1995, and Director of the Ayvalık International Music Academy (AIMA). She is a member of Balkan Music Forum, Turkish representative of the

International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, where it functions as an independent international non-governmental organization. Its p ...

and

European Music Council The European Music Council (EMC) is a regional group of the International Music Council (IMC) representing Europe. It was established in 1972 as the 'European regional group of the IMC' and was renamed the European Music Council in 1992. The IMC ...

. She is the author of seven books on music and musicians. She is the daughter of the famous author

Sabahattin Ali Sabahattin Ali (25 February 1907 – 2 April 1948) was a Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Early life He was born in 1907 in Eğridere township (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria) of the Sanjak of Gümülcine (n ...

(1907–1948)

Awards

* Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Medal (1995 – France Culture Ministry) * Vehbi Koç Awards (2011) * 43. Istanbul Music Festival Honorary Award (2015)

References

1937 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Turkish scientists Turkish musicologists Women musicologists Turkish classical pianists Turkish women pianists Cumhuriyet people Hürriyet people Yeni Yüzyıl people Radikal (newspaper) people 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century women pianists Fulbright alumni {{classical-pianist-stub