When did you start to get interested in music?

When I was very young actually. Upon my mother’s wish I started taking private lessons, playing children’s songs. It went on like that for a while and then I enrolled in the conservatory. When things got serious, I picked up a certain discipline thanks to my mother and started practicing like crazy. My mother was a dentist but she quit so I could practice piano. She would sit with me all day and check my work, and that really helped.

If you were an advertisement which would your slogan be?

If there’s no way,create one

Which is the part you enjoy the music most about it?

Music is universal. Playing for people from all around the world, talking with them through music, sharing the music, these are all really enjoyable. Generally I try to share my feelings through music and not via speech. Ever since I was little I tried to play the piano as if I was talking with it. I guess that’s my biggest difference.

Most artists say that through their art they learn more about themselves, heal injuries… In which aspects has music helped you?

Music made me mature. As a hyperactive child, I suddenly found myself with the piano, practicing. I worked really hard. I was hard on myself. I was never really satistified and I always tried for the better. With music it’s very difficult to reach for what’s good, but that should always be the goal. Music enabled me to get a taste of those things that are good. And that will always be my goal from now on as well.

What does music mean to you?

For me, music is the best way of expressing my feelings.

Who are your idols?

Martha Argerich, Glenn Gould, Nicolas Economou

If you didn’t like music what would you like to do?

I  never thought about that. I didn’t have a chance to choose but if I weren’t playing the piano I would still be doing music in some other way.

Do you consider that nowadays there are more or less opportunities for new artists? Why?

I believe that people create their own opportunities through imagination and wish. In our line of work, one always has to be extraordinary. Especially in classical music, the pieces that are interpreted are almost always the same ones. One either has to have an amazing technique, a musical power, or something else. So, one has to be different, leaving one’s mark. I guess this is the most difficult part of our job because you can only get ahead of the others if you do something differently.

What would your idyllic life as an artist be like?

I don’t like schools or teachers that much. I only loved my high school teacher whom I closely worked with, and I learned a lot from that teacher. I lastly studied at Ecole Normal de Musique in Paris. I don’t believe that music can be learned in a school. It all comes down to being interested in it and having discipline. I love music very music and it became my way of life. I imagine a universe where people don’t strain themselves to get an education, where they make whatever music they want in peace and delight. Otherwise, for me personally, all I need to be peaceful is a piano.

Are you content with your practice as a Turkish-born artist?

I love my country very much. I made use of my country’s resources and studied abroad but I always dreamt of coming back. I think one should return to one’s homeland and become useful for the local talent after getting an education abroad. Although I’m a soloist who spends time mostly practicing, I still would like to assist talented people who are interested in the piano.