There was nothing in Fazil Say's background or upbringing to suggest that by the age of twenty-seven this young artist would have become one of the most original pianists of his generation. Born in Ankara in 1970 to non-musical parents, he studied the piano and composition at the Ankara State Conservatory and, at the age of seventeen, left Turkey for Dusseldorf, where a state bursary allowed him to spend the next five years studying with David Levine at the Robert Schumann Institute.
Between 1992 and 1995 he taught at the Berlin Academy. At the age of twenty-five, Fazil Say won first prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, which immediately opened doors to him throughout the World of Music. He has given solo recitals at New York's 92nd Street Y and at the Kennedy Center in Washington and has also appeared as a soloist with the Boston Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra and with the New York Chamber Symphony at the Lincoln Center.
Also in 1995 he won a Beracasa Foundation Prize, which led to his French debut recital at the Festival International de Radio France-Montpellier. Since then Fazil Say has appeared all over the world, notably with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Budapest Chamber Orchestra. He is also active as a chamber musician and has appeared with Yuri Bashmet and Shlomo Mintz, among others.
A composer as well as a performing artist, Fazil Say already has several works to his credit, including Black Hymns, written when he was sixteen to mark the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin, and a Double Concerto for violin and piano commissionned by the Berlin Symphonic Orchestra. In 1996, he gave the first performance of his own second piano concerto, The Silk Road, in Boston. A number of his works suggest takes on his favorite repertory : one thinks especially of his Turkish Dances for piano solo, his Paganini Variations and his Variations on Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca.
During the year 1998, Fazil Say appeared namely in New York (four concerts with the New York Philharmonicand Kurt Masur in a Gerschwin program), Paris (debuts at the Auditorium du Louvre then two sold-out recitals in Salle Gaveau), London (Wigmore Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Istanbul, Budapest, Zurich...
He also performed at major international festivals, particularly La Roque d'Anthéron, Menton and Toulouse.
Fazil Say's first recording, dedicated to Mozart Sonatas K330, 331 "Alla Turca" and 333 and to Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je maman" K265, was released in February 1998, generating an overwhelmingly enthusiastic reaction among the media and audiences alike.
His new recording dedicated to Bach (Italian Concerto, French Suite n°6, Chaconne, Preludes and Fugues BWV 543, 846) is now available.
Fazil Say records exclusively for Warner Music France.
