Piano Mertol Demirelli.
Born in 1996 in Ankara. Between 2003 and 2011 he was recognized as a child prodigy and gave over 100 concerts in Turkey and abroad. She studied with O. Ünler at Bilkent Music School, A. R. El Bacha, D. Bashkirov and M. J. Pires at QEMC, R. Castro at HEMU, Fiesole and HEM. He won awards at IBLA Grand Prize, Onay Sanat, d'Ile-de-France, Yamaha Switzerland, Vigo Piano Competitions. At the age of 15 she received the "Young Artist of the Year" award in Munich. He attended master classes of I. Biret, F. Say, G. Onay, H. Sermet, E. Golandsky, J. C. Vanden Eynden, P. De Maria, R. Shereshevskaya, S. Kovacevich, C. R. Hamelin, P. Cassard, N. Goerner. The orchestras he has performed includes Antalya, Bursa, Çukurova, İstanbul State Orchestras, Eskişehir BBSO, BIFO, Bilkent, CRR, CSO, Doğuş Çocuk, TUGFO, Kaunas, NEOJIBA, Warsaw Symphony and Wallonia Royal Chamber Orchestra. He has performed with conductors such as A.Dumay, B.Tüzün, C.Okan, C.Mansur, E.Rosadini, E.Sakpınar, G.Aykal, H.Şensoy, I.Metin, İ.Yazıcı, J-C.Casadesus, K.Griffiths, M.Pitrenas, N.Chalvin, O.Kavruk, R.Gökmen, R.Castro, R.Gianola. Demirelli gives solo, concerto and chamber music performances.
A GLANCE TO 25 YEARS OF ART JOURNEY
PROJECTS AND CONCERTS
Mertol Demirelli started music at the age of 4 and began piano studies at the age of 5. He received his first award at the age of 6.
-At 7 years old, he gave concerts in 2004 in Newcastle (England), New York, and Arkansas-Little Rock, including venues such as Carnegie Hall, with the awards he won at the IBLA Grand Prize competition.
-At 8 years old, he performed Mozart's 11th Piano Concerto with Işın Metin, and at 9 years old, he performed the 12th Piano Concerto with Gürer Aykal.
-At 10 years old, he performed J.S. Bach's Cm Concerto for Two Pianos with İdil Biret at the Istanbul Festival's 35th Anniversary Opening Concert.
-At 11 years old, he played Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto in Istanbul, Kaunas, and Eskişehir, and gave a recital at the United Nations (Geneva).
-At 12 years old, he performed Mozart's No.10 Concerto for Two Pianos with Rengim Gökmen, CSO, and Hüseyin Sermet. Additionally, he performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto in Munich.
-At 14 years old, he premiered Mozart's Concerto for Violin and Piano (KV Anh.56) in Belgium, conducting Augustin Dumay with Bulgarian violinist Liya Petrova at Flagey in Brussels.
-At 15 years old, he performed Mendelssohn’s Violin and Piano Concerto with Liya Petrova, conducted by J-C Casadesus, at Aya İrini in Istanbul. He played Liszt's 1st Piano Concerto with Cem Mansur and TUGFO in Istanbul and Munich.
-In 2013, he performed Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto at the season opening concert with Rengim Gökmen and CRR SO.
-In 2014, he joined Maria João Pires' class and was selected the following year to give concerts together as part of the Partitura Project.
-In the 2015-2016 season, they performed at the QEMC Beethoven Festival and chamber music concerts at Flagey in Brussels. In 2016, they played at the Belœil Festival.
-In 2018, as part of Martha Argerich's European tour preparations, they performed Liszt's 1st Piano Concerto in Brazil with Ricardo Castro and NEOJIBA.
-In 2019, they played Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with Roberto Gianola and Eskişehir BBSO. They gave recitals in Brussels (Max van der Linden Festival and Queen Elisabeth 20-21 season) and Rome (The Waldensian Church).
-In 2020, they performed Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto in Brazil with Edoardo Rosadini and Shaborùz Quartet. They gave a recital at the American Church in Paris. At the diploma concert organized jointly with the HEMU Orchestra and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, they played Mozart's 20th Piano Concerto in Lausanne under conductor Nicolas Chalvin.
-In 2021, they performed Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto with a string quintet. They recorded a CD of Brahms's trio for violin, horn, and piano (E-flat major, Op.40) with Gabriel Potier (Horn) and Olha Semchyshyn (Violin).
-Between 2021 and 2023, with the Trio Kapital formed with Emile Abeille (violin) and Léonardo Capezzali (cello), they played at events including festivals like Musique et Vie in venues such as the Frank Martin Auditorium in Geneva.
-In April 2022, in Geneva, they performed excerpts from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring with pianist Giorgi Gigashvili as part of the school's pianists' evening.
-In February 2023, they played Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto with EBBSO under conductor Can Okan. They performed as part of the prestigious Vallée de Joux concert series.
-In April 2023, they opened the 26th Music Season of the Geneva Chopin Society.
-In July 2023, during a concert in Florence with the Fiesole Orchestra, they played and conducted Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto.
-In December 2024, they gave a recital at AKM.
AWARDS
-At the age of 7, awarded several prizes at the 2003 IBLA Grand Prize held in Sicily.
-At the age of 10, won first place in the 2006 Approval Art Piano Beauty Contest in the 7-15 age category.
-At the age of 15, received the "Young Artist of the Year" award in Germany as part of the 2011 Festival der Nationen in Munich.
-In 2019, finished second in the International Ile-de-France Piano Competition (Paris).
-In 2020, became the winner of the Yamaha Switzerland Piano Competition (Zurich).
-In 2022, won the special award from the Geneva Chopin Foundation.
-In 2023, finished third in the International Vigo Piano Competition.
EDUCATIONAL LIFE
-At the age of 6, they won the Bilkent University MSSF MHİO exam with first place and were accepted into the piano department with a scholarship.
-At the age of 9, they became a student of Oya Ünler and worked with her for four years.
-At the age of 14, they were accepted into the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel on a scholarship and worked with Abdel Rahman El Bacha for four years.
-In 2014, they were accepted into Maria João Pires' class and the Partitura Project, working with her for two years.
-In 2016, they were accepted into HEMU (Lausanne School of Music) by skipping a class and became a student of Ricardo Castro.
-In 2018, they became the only pianist accepted into the Soloist Master program at HEMU, completing it with a special award. Simultaneously, they received training in piano conducting at the Fiesole Music School (Florence, Italy).
-In 2021, they started their second master's degree in Piano Pedagogy at HEM (Geneva School of Music), continuing their soloist studies with Ricardo Castro.