Zeynep Üçbaşaran is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

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 ...

Biography

Pianist Zeynep Üçbaşaran was born 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 Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. She started her music studies at age four at the Istanbul Conservatory as one of the youngest ever to be admitted. In 1987 Üçbaşaran started her studies in the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

in Budapest, where she worked with Prof. Kornél Zempléni, Prof. Katalin Nemes (pupil of

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

), Balázs Kecskés, and Prof. István Lantos. After obtaining her Teacher and Concert Artist Diploma in 1994, she continued her studies with Prof. Dr. Tibor Szász in Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg, Germany (University of Music Freiburg) and obtained her Diploma in Aufbaustudium I. She has her advanced graduate degrees in Piano Performance from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

: MA (2000), Doctor of Musical Arts (2004). Üçbaşaran has recorded the compositions of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Ahmet Adnan Saygun Ahmet Adnan Saygun (; 7 September 1907 – 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. One of a group of composers known as the Turkish Five who pioneered western classical music in Turkey, his works show a master ...

, and

Robert Muczynski Robert Muczynski (March 19, 1929 – May 25, 2010) was a Polish-American composer. Muczynski studied piano with Walter Knupfer and composition with Alexander Tcherepnin at DePaul University in Chicago, where he received both his Bachelor of M ...

for Eroica Classical Recordings. Her samples can be downloaded from her website or listened to from her YouTube Channel: Since 1996 she has been living in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

Performances

Zeynep Üçbaşaran has given solo recitals and concerts in Turkey, Egypt, Hungary, England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Lithuania, and the United States in addition to several chamber music performances. Her

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

debut in London was in November 2004.

Awards

Her awards include American Liszt Society Award, Rozsnyai Memorial Award, Ina Broida Award from UCSB, and USC Associates Music Merit Scholarship. She is also a recipient of the MAA 2001 Aspen Summer Music Festival Scholarship, where she was selected to play in the distinguished artist Master Class of Leon Fleisher. Üçbaşaran 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 US.

Recordings

She has recorded for Eroica Classical Recordings * Santa Barbara LISZT Album, 2001 (Eroica JDT3092) * Virtuoso SCHUBERT, 2002 (Eroica JDT3108) * LISZT / Sonata in B Minor, 2003 (Eroica JDT3135) * Scarlatti / Beethoven / Saygun / Bernstein / Muczynski, 2005 (Eroica JDT3223) * W.A. Mozart, 2005 (Eroica JDT3222)

Piano Sonata No. 14 (Mozart) The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, Köchel catalogue, K. 457, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed and completed in 1784, with the official date of completion recorded as 14 October 1784 in Mozart's own catalogue of works. It was published in D ...

* W.A. Mozart, 2007 (Eroica JDT3311) * Ahmet Adnan Saygun, 2008 (Naxos 8.570746)

References

External links

Zeynep Üçbaşaran Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ucbasaran, Zeynep Turkish classical pianists Turkish women pianists Musicians from Istanbul Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people USC Thornton School of Music alumni Women classical pianists