Özgür Tuncer to perform Turkish piano repertoire in İstanbul

When Tuncer quickly learned all of the material in the music books he had been given, his father began to think that he had real talent. Since his father’s piano tutor agreed, Tuncer was given his own piano when he was going into fifth grade. “In the end, I also had my own piano, and I was taking classes. On the other hand, my aunt was a music teacher at a high school, and she was also aware of my progress, and she strongly recommended that I study at the conservatory after primary school,” he says, adding that his family decided that he should take the exams at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory.

Following these exams, the head of the piano department at the time, Professor Metin Öğüt, accepted Tuncer as his student. “I graduated as Professor Öğüt’s only male student after ten years of education. He not only taught me how to play the piano, but also showed me the way in many different aspects of life,” he adds. Tuncer graduated as the top student in the conservatory and continued to do his masters and doctorate degree at the same university.

After his graduation, Tuncer participated in a competition in Sicily organized by the Conferenza Musicale Mediterranea and performed in a concert for the record that was released in honor of the event. He also joined Belgium’s prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition and gave a recital in France consisting of compositions by French and Turkish composers.

Among the many composers he loves to interpret, Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninoff have a special place in his heart while playing the piano, but he prefers to listen to Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Mahler with an orchestra. He is particularly praised for his performances of Chopin by the critics. “Chopin is very precious for me. We can call him the poet of music. He is very sincere and heartfelt with his emotions, and the reflection of romanticism in his music is also very noble,” the musician states.

Apart from his performances, Tuncer also teaches at his alma mater conservatory. “Though it is very nice to both do your own music and teach at the same time, sometimes they may block each other both in terms of time and concentration. But, unfortunately, I cannot choose one over the other since there is a need for both of them in Turkey,” he emphasizes.

Even though he has devoted his life to classical music, Tuncer says listening to other types of music contributes to one’s culture and soul. “I believe that all branches of music may have high quality and low quality aspects. I sift and select all the other musical genres I am listening to and position them accordingly,” he says, noting that he gets much inspiration from the people around him, apart from music.

Currently Tuncer is working on a project that features Turkish composers. “During the last year, I have reached most of the solo pieces that have been written for piano, including contemporary young composers. The recital program at the Akbank Art Center will consist of pieces from this project,” he notes, adding that he will perform 25 pieces from 13 Turkish composers. “My objective with this program is to present examples from the pieces that have been produced so far and make the composers feel that we expect new ones.”