FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Contact: Jaye Ike, College of Fine Arts, 304-696-3296

Visiting pianist from Turkey to be in residence at Marshall University

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Dr. Tűrev Berki, a visiting guest pianist from Turkey, will present a solo piano recital and participate in a chamber music concert during a week-long residency at the Marshall University Department of Music beginning Oct. 14 and continuing through Oct. 20.

The piano recital begins at noon Friday, Oct. 16, at First Presbyterian Church, 1015 5th Avenue in Huntington. A complimentary lunch will follow the program, which will enable the audience to meet Berki. The chamber music concert, which will also feature cellist Dr. Şőlen Dikener and violinist Ian Jessee, will take place Monday, Oct. 19 in the Smith Recital Hall on Marshall’s Huntington campus. Both concerts are free of charge.

“The visit of Dr. Berki to MU is the continuation of our duo collaboration that began with a concert tour in Turkey during my sabbatical leave in the spring of 2009,” said Dikener, who is a member of the Marshall music faculty. “He is an outstanding musician and a virtuoso pianist. His visit … will contribute tremendously to MU music students to enhance their global experience in the arts.”

Berki is chair of the Musicology Department, State Conservatory of Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. A native of Ankara, he began his piano education at the age of nine with master duo-pianists Elif and Bedii Aran. He represented Turkey in the International Steinway Piano Competition, where he was awarded first prize, and was also among the five award winners in Italy at the Senigallia International Piano Competition for Young Pianists. In 1993, having been assigned as the cultural attaché of the Turkish Republic in the United States, he gave a recital in Washington D.C. on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the republic. As a soloist, he has played various concertos, as well as many recitals, in international festivals held in Turkey and in Carnegie Hall in New York.

Berki’s visit is sponsored by MU Music Department and First Presbyterian Church under the MUsic Alive Guest Artist and Chamber Music Series, a program that is now in its fourth season. Dikener is the artistic director of the series, working together with Dale Capehardt from First Presbyterian Church. Each academic year, two international artists are invited to Huntington for concerts, lectures and other activities. The 2009-2010 program will feature, in upcoming events, the Degas String Quartet from North Carolina; the Capital Piano Trio from New York; violist Dr. Cetin Aydar from Izmir, Turkey; and the Nevelson Duo from Marshall University.

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