Classical music celebrity, virtuoso pianist and composer, who has captivated the world of music with his extraordinary talent as an improviser, Fazil Say will perform in Lithuania. The pianist, who has won the prestigious ECHO Klassik award several times, and who has performed in the world's most famous concert halls and festivals, will perform in a concert by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius on October 30, conducted by Modestas Pitrėnas. Fazil Say will perform his latest A concert for piano and orchestra "Mother Earth". Concert is held in the newly renovated concert hall of the Latvian State Opera and Ballet.
Fazilas Say captivates listeners with his versatile talent. He is a virtuoso pianist who has mastered the classical piano repertoire to the highest level of mastery, and at the same time - a wonderful improviser who does not leave listeners indifferent with his performances. The French daily Le Figaro called Fazilas Say a "genius". It is said that concerts with this performer are more immediate, more open, more interesting - they touch the heart. Fazilas Say's musical work, which has captivated audiences in many countries, is characterized by an original interweaving of classical, contemporary, jazz music sounds and effectively inserted elements of ethnic music.
The beginning of Fazil Say's creative path, which has been going on for almost 40 years, can be considered the year 1986, when German composer Aribert Reimann visited Ankara, where the then 16-year-old pianist was studying, and recommended to the pianist David Levine who accompanied him to visit the city's conservatory to hear the boy who "plays like the devil". Since 1987, Fazil Say has studied with D. Levine at the Robert Schumann Hochschule für Musik in Düsseldorf and in Berlin, and until then he had studied with Mithat Fenmen in Ankara. He immediately noticed Fazil's creativity and, in addition to mastering the classical repertoire, encouraged Fazil to improvise daily. Contact with the free creative process and forms developed Fazil Say's unique talent as an improviser and opened up a broader perspective on performance and creation. Excellent technique and extraordinary musicality, performing both works by J. S. Bach, J. Haydn, WA Mozart, and works by L. van Beethoven and F. Liszt, which require a different kind of pianism, allowed Fazil Say to win the Young Performers Competition in New York in 1994. Since then, the pianist has collaborated with renowned American and European orchestras and conductors. The pianist has managed to accumulate a diverse repertoire - from the aforementioned J. S. Bach and Viennese classics to romanticism and contemporary opuses, including his own works.
Fazilas Say has performed on all five continents, and for many years he has played in a duet with the world-famous violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. His other stage partners include the famous violinist Maxim Vengerov, the Minetti Quartet, cellist Nicolas Altstaedt and mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa. In 2016, Fazilas Say was awarded the Beethoven Prize in Bonn, and in 2017, the Duisburg City Music Prize.
From 2005 to 2010 he was a resident artist at the Dortmund Konzerthaus, from 2010 to 2011 he was a guest artist at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival. He has also been a resident artist at many festivals in Paris, Tokyo, Hamburg, Istanbul, and was a resident of the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra and the Rheingau Music Festival, where he was awarded the Rheingau Music Prize. He also performs in venues such as New York's Carnegie Hall and Frankfurt's Alte Oper. In the near future, the artist will give performances at the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg, and others. Not only as a pianist, but also as a composer, he was a resident of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Dresden Philharmonic.
During his career spanning almost three decades, Fazilas Say has written works commissioned by the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Vienna Concert Hall, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the BBC and other significant music organizations. In addition to the piano and chamber music that form the basis of his work, he composes symphonic music, solo concertos, and is the author of two oratorios. In addition to his active concert activities, Fazilas Say has released a number of recordings on the Teldec Classics and naïve labels, and has won four ECHO Klassik awards. Since 2016, he has collaborated with Warner Classics.
World-renowned pianist Fazilas Say will perform in a concert by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra on October 30 at the LVSO Concert Hall in Vilnius. Tickets are distributed by "Bilietai.lt". The concert is organized by "Vilniaus Festivaliai".
