Güher and Süher Pekinel
Güher and Süher Pekinel (born March 29, 1951 in Istanbul ) are Turkish pianists . Together, the identical twin sisters form a world-renowned piano duo .
Career
They made their first public appearance at the age of six. Three years later they made their orchestral debut with the Ankara Philharmonic, which was broadcast live on the radio. Güher and Süher Pekinel earned their Abitur in 1969 at the Odenwald School , where they also received private lessons from Wolfgang Fortner . They began their studies under the direction of Yvonne Loriod in Paris, which they later continued at the Musikhochschule with August Leopolder in Frankfurt. At the invitation of Rudolf Serkin they worked at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, then with Claudio Arrau and Leon Fleisher in New York, where they passed their concert exams with distinction at the Juilliard School with Adele Marcus and at the same time at the Frankfurt University of Music. As soloists and as a duo, they have won numerous international competitions in Germany, Italy and the USA, such as first prize as a duo in the “ UNESCO World Music” competition as representatives of Germany.
Herbert von Karajan played an important role in her professional career. He invited her to the Salzburg Festival in 1984, helped her international career to break through and always supported her. Leonard Bernstein , Jacques Loussier and Bob James have rewritten and arranged piano works especially for the sisters. From then on, they performed with many important symphonic orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic , Vienna Philharmonic , New York Philharmonic Orchestra , Israel Philharmonic Orchestra , Philharmonia Orchestra London, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra , Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. The Pekinels have given concerts under the direction of important conductors such as Zubin Mehta , Colin Davis , Neville Marriner , Riccardo Chailly , Paavo Järvi , Michel Plasson , Marek Janowski and Christoph von Dohnányi .
Her repertoire includes all known works for piano duos from the classical to the modern.
Educational projects
The Pekinel sisters are involved in three non-profit educational projects.
One is dedicated to promoting musical education according to international standards. To this end, they initiated the “Young Musicians on World Stages” program, which is financed by the Turkish company TÜPRAŞ. Twelve highly talented young musicians of various types of instruments receive scholarships to continue their studies in Europe and to take the opportunity to work with world-famous musicians and educators and to take part in international competitions with the highest quality instruments. In 2011 the sisters received the “Best Social Responsibility Award” for this project.
The second project advocates the resumption of music lessons in Turkish high schools. In 2006 they founded the "G&S Pekinel Music Department" at the Tevitol, a boarding school for gifted students from all parts of Turkey.
With the third project, the sisters are realizing their great wish to apply Orff's schoolwork in Turkey, a project that aims to further develop the creativity, self-confidence and analytical skills of children in pre-school and elementary schools in Turkey Turkish Ministry of Education and the Orff Foundation.
Awards
The Pekinels have held the title of “Honorary Citizens of Turkey” since 1991 and received an honorary doctorate from the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. In addition, the İstanbul Culture and Arts Foundation awarded them the honorary prize for their life's work in 2013.
Publications
In October 2018, the Pekinel sisters published their life's work. Numerous piano concerts, performances and interviews appeared on four DVDs, two Blu-rays and seven CDs. Including a performance of " West Side Story " by Leonard Bernstein .
literature
- Ingo Harden, Gregor Willmes: Pianist Profiles. 600 pianists: their biography, their style, their recordings . Güher and Süher Pekinel. 1st edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-1616-5 , p. 546-547 .
- Alain Pâris : Classical music in the 20th century, instrumentalists, singers, conductors, orchestras, choirs . Pekinel, Güher and Süher. 2nd Edition. dtv, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-423-32501-1 , p. 593 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jens Brachmann: Tatort Odenwald School. The perpetrator system and the discursive practice of coming to terms with incidents of sexual violence, Verlag Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 2019; on Güher and Süher Pekinel there p. 70.
- ↑ TREASURES - Güher & Süher Pekinel life's work in one box. Retrieved on November 21, 2018 (German).