Gülsin Onay

Gülsin Onay is one of the most talented musical artists to come from Turkey in recent years. From an early age, her musical destiny was apparent – as a six-year-old she gave her first public concert on Turkish radio. She progressed rapidly by studying privately with Mithat Fenmen and A. Adnan Saygun. On a Turkish Government Scholarship provided by the "Law for Outstandingly Talented Children" Onay studied at the Paris Conservatory with renowned artists such as Pierre Sancan, Nadia Boulanger and Monique Hass. By the age of 16, she had graduated, winning the prestigious Premier Prix du Piano, followed by prizes in top international competitions, including the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud (in Paris ) and the Ferrucio Busoni (in Bolzano ).

This launched her truly international career, during which she has performed in the major musical centers of 47 countries across all continents, both in recital and with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich RSO, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Vienna RSO, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Copenhagen and Helsinki, the Slovak Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Belgium, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Gulsin Onay is also a popular guest at festivals around the world – including Berlin , Warsaw , Granada , Mozartfest Wurzburg, Newport , Schleswig-Holstein and Istanbul – playing to warm critical acclaim.

Gulsin Onay has a wide solo and concerto repertoire, spanning all periods and styles. Her recordings include solo music by Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Franck, Medtner, Ravel, Bartok and Saygun, and concertos by Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikowsky, Stuppner and Saygun.

Renowned in her native Turkey , she holds the title of State Artist and has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Bosphorus University in Istanbul . She is a champion of the music of the contemporary Turkish composer A. Adnan Saygun, whose music features in many of her programmes and recordings.

In 2003 Gülsin Onay was named "Goodwill Ambassador" for the United Nations. Onay is the “Artist in Residence” of the Bilkent University .