Pianist Idil Ulgen will perform a piano recital of Western and Turkish marches and dances, including compositions by W.A. Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and piano transcriptions of Turkish band music.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey,
Idil Ulgen started her music education at the Istanbul University State
Conservatory and later attended the Mozarteum
Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Before moving to United States, she was on the staff
of the Piano and Theory Departments of the Istanbul University State
Conservatory. In USA, she
studied piano with Joseph Gurt at Eastern
Michigan University, and won the first prize at the Graduate Music
Award Competition and Concerto Competition at EMU.
She received Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from Eastern Michigan University and Piano Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Michigan. She studied piano with Prof. Louis Nagel and piano pedagogy with Joanne Smith at the University of Michigan. Until recently, she served as a member of the piano faculty at the Eastern Michigan University.
Mrs. Ulgen regularly plays in
solo and chamber music recitals and orchestra concerts in USA, Austria,
Canada and Turkey. She played the world premiere of “Fantasy
Tango,” composed by Prof. Joseph Gurt and dedicated to Mrs. Ulgen, with the
Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra of Michigan and Istanbul Isik University Orchestra
of Istanbul, Turkey. Her latest choreographed
piano recital that included ballet, dances by whirling dervishes, and poetry
reading was televised in Turkey
and several European countries.
This program is made possible through the generosity of the Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan. Free with museum admission.
