Mertol Demirelli, Piyanist

Fascinated since childhood by the black and white touches in his hometown in Ankara Turkey, an inspiring blend of the classical richness of the West and the spiritual richness of the East, Mertol Demirelli begins his career at a very young age, playing at Carnegie Hall (NY) thanks to the prize he won in the IBLA competition at the age of 7. He continues his steps already in an adult world while opening the 35th Istanbul Music Festival with Idil Biret, and continuing with concerts in Moscow with Vladimir Spivakov's project. Furthermore, in addition to his projects with several orchestras, the concert he gives with the Turkish Youth Orchestra in Munich while performing F. Liszt's First Piano Concerto, is diffused by Bavarian Radio (ARD) in 2011. Same year he has a memorable opportunity to play the double concerto by F.Mendelssohn-Bartholdy with Liya Petrova, accompanied by Sinfonia Varsovia and conducted by Jean-Claude Casadesus in Istanbul.

To begin his studies, he enters in Bilkent Music College with Oya Unler and from 2010 he has continued his academic career in abroad, previously in Belgium then in Switzerland. He has had the opportunity to work and collaborate with great pedagogues such as Abdel Rachman El Bacha, Dmitri Bashkirov and Maria João Pires. After his academic paths in the prominent institut Chapelle Musicale Reine Elizabeth and a special degree of master called « Master Soliste » in Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, he is currently continuing his studies in Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva with the famous pianist and conductor Ricardo Castro. Not only renowned by his career but beside with his social project « NEOJIBA », Mister Castro gives him opportunity to participate and play with them on 2018 and 2020. Mertol gives a significance to become a complete musician and in this ambition, he has realised a diploma in Scuola Musica di Fiesole for conducting from the keyboard studies, while playing and conducting Beethoven 4th piano concerto. In a similar approach, he gives a big attention to the chamber music, consequently with his piano trio « Trio Kapital » they have been regularly performing since 2021.

Lauréat of the International Piano Competition of Vigo in April 2023, he has won distinctive prizes as well as a second prize at the Ile de France International Piano Competition and a first prize at the Yamaha Switzerland Competition. He has performed in major European cities such as Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Brussels, Munich and Istanbul. In October 2020, he has played W.A.Mozart's 20th concerto for his master soloist exam with the student orchestra of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in collaboration with the Orchestre Chambre de Lausanne. In April 2023, he realises the season opening of the Société Genevoise de F.Chopin. In his artistic career, Mertol has corperated with orchestras such as Sinfonia Varsovia, Borusan Philharmonic of Istanbul, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Chambre de Wallonie, Kaunas Symphony, NEOJIBA and Galilei Orchestra of Firenze with conductors such as Augustin Dumay, Burak Tüzün, Can Okan, Cem Mansur, Ender Sakpınar, Edoardo Rosadini, Gürer Aykal, Işın Metin, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Kevin Griffiths, Modestas Pitrenas, Nicolas Chalvin, Oğuzhan Kavruk, Rengim Gökmen, Ricardo Castro and Roberto Gianola. He has taken part in masterclasses with Fazıl Say, Gulsin Onay, Huseyin Sermet, Idil Biret, Edna Golandsky, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Pietro De Maria, Stephen Kovacevich, Charles Richard Hamelin, Philippe Cassard, Nelson Goerner.

Contact: mertoldemirelli(at)gmail.com                       this page was last updated on 14.11.2023    
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