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Pianist Fazil Say Performs with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Tonight

By: Apr. 11, 2015
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In the final concert of its annual series at Carnegie Hall this season, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will be joined by Turkish pianist-composer Faz?l Say for the New York premiere of his new Chamber Symphony, Op. 62, commissioned by Orpheus as part of its American Notes initiative. Mr. Say also performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major with Orpheus as soloist. Making his Orpheus debut this season, Mr. Say last performed in the US at the Met Museum in April 2012. Orpheus will also perform Wagner's Siegfried Idyll and Haydn's Symphony No. 80 in D minor, both signature works from its Deutsche Grammophon catalog.

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The concert takes place at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium tonight, April 11 at 7 p.m.Tickets priced from $14.50 to $110 are available from Carnegie Hall by phone at (212) 247-7800, online at www.carnegiehall.org, or in person at the box office.

Orpheus Executive Director Krishna Thiagarajan says, "The Mozart piano concerto is well-suited for Faz?l Say because he is very much like a young Mozart, as an excellent pianist-composer who is outspoken, energetic, and worldly. In some ways Faz?l has taken a path not unlike the earlier composer, who left his hometown of Salzburg, absorbed new ideas in the cultural capitals of Europe, and finally found his niche in Vienna. Our performance of this concerto will play up the showmanship and spontaneity that defined Mozart's musical life."

Exemplifying the borderless world of music in the 21st century, Mr. Say grew up in Ankara, Turkey, studied at the Musikhochschule Robert Schumann in Düsseldorf and the Berlin Conservatory of Music, lived in New York (where he won First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1994), and is now based in Istanbul. He performs repertoire ranging from Bach to Viennese and Romantic classics to contemporary works including his own compositions, and has appeared with leading orchestras and conductors on all five continents.

As a composer, he has written over 80 original works and arrangements, and his compositional style often features a fantasia-like structure, a variable, syncopated, and often dance-like rhythm, a continuous, driving pulse, and melodic ideas that often can be traced back to themes from the folk music of Turkey and its neighbors. In these respects, Mr. Say stands to some extent in the tradition of composers like Béla Bartók, George Enescu, and György Ligeti, who also drew on the rich musical folklore of their countries. Prior works by Mr. Say have taken inspiration from the poetry and lives of 20th-century Turkish writers such as Nâz?m Hikmet and Metin Alt?ok as well as 11th-century Persian mathematician-astronomer-philosopher-poet Omar Khayyám. One of Mr. Say's best-known works is Black Earth for solo piano, written in 1997 and inspired by Turkish folk singer and poet Â??k Veysel as well as John Cage and his prepared piano techniques. More than 25 recordings feature Mr. Say's compositions or piano performances.

Mr. Thiagarajan continues, "Faz?l likes to try things out, mix genres in his compositional style, and use cultural influences from the Middle East, especially Turkey. We rarely hear the Turkish influence in classical music publicly at this high level of art form. In our changing, globalizing world, Faz?l is a very important musician and composer, and the perfect collaborator with Orpheus."

Mr. Say's Chamber Symphony, Op. 62 is the third work premiered this season as part of Orpheus' American Notes commissioning initiative. The three composers, who all contribute diverse perspectives on American identity within an increasingly interconnected world and were chosen by the Orpheus Artistic Directors, include London-born, Chicago-based composer Anna Clyne and American composer-pianist Timo Andres.

Following the concert at Carnegie Hall, Orpheus embarks on its major international tour this season, which leads them to Italy, Germany, Austria, and Hungary from April 15 to 24. Mr. Say joins Orpheus to perform in Bologna, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, St. Pölten, Innsbruck, and at the "Heidelberger Frühling" Music Festival, and Orpheus also performs at the Budapest Spring Festival.

Mr. Thiagarajan says, "We are thrilled to be touring with Faz?l Say in Germany-which we return to as often as Japan-as well as in Italy and Austria. Orpheus has built its career in Europe, with most of the recordings in our catalog having been released by Deutsche Grammophon. Artists and audiences in Europe identify with us as much as they do in the United States; it is a cross-pollination of ideas. The cultures in Europe and the US are distinct and varied, thus staying in touch is essential."



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