Hüseyin Sermet

Hüseyin Sermet — Biography

Equally known for keyboard virtuosity and for his compositions, the pianist Hüseyin Sermet is one of the Turkish musicians who have carried Turkey onto the world's concert stages. In 1991 he received the title of State Artist of Turkey; he also founded the Paris-based ADAP (Association of Artists for Peace), which he co-presides.

He entered the Ankara State Conservatory in 1965 and studied with Ferhunde Erkin, then with Ahmed Adnan Saygun and Ulvi Cemal Erkin. In 1968 the Turkish government sent him to the Paris Conservatoire under the Gifted Children Law. In France he studied composition with Olivier Messiaen and piano with Nadia Boulanger and Thierry de Brunhoff, and he later worked with Maria Curcio in London. Competitions raised his profile: he won first prize at the Santander Competition in 1976 and at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in 1980, and he is a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. From 1980 to 1989 he taught piano at the Monaco Music Academy.

He has played with Mstislav Rostropovich, Yuri Bashmet, Maria João Pires, Lorin Maazel and Semyon Bychkov, and with many major orchestras. His Réminiscence was performed at the Empéri Festival in 1997 and broadcast on France Musique; Dream and Nightmare, commissioned by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Sculptures, commissioned by İş Bankası, were also premiered. He holds honorary doctorates from Boğaziçi (1988) and Marmara (1998) universities, and in 2012 received an honour award from the Istanbul Music Festival on its 40th anniversary.