Turkish virtuoso bequeathing musical legacy to cities

KOCAELİ - Anatolia News Agency

In each city pianist Tuluyhan Uğurlu visits, his representatives buy a piano. Currently in Turkey, 16 cities have gained a piano thanks to Uğurlu.

Thanks to Turkey’s world-renowned pianist Tuluyhan Uğurlu, many Turkish cities have a piano. “Tenders are initiated everywhere I go for a concert and a piano is bought. Sixteen cities obtained pianos in this way,” Uğurlu said.

When Uğurlu visits a city for a concert he asks the representatives to buy a piano for his concert. Uğurlu has had the representative buy 16 pianos in 16 different cities. This is cultural development, according to Uğurlu.

Uğurlu gave a concert for the 76th anniversary of the death of Mehmet Akif Ersoy, an Ottoman-era poet, and spoke to Anatolia news agency after.

Uğurlu said his aim in creating his music was to combine religious music, war music and palace music together and blend it with folk music also. Uğurlu added that he would like to add contemporary tunes to his music and tried to communicate with the world through his music.

After studying at the piano composition department of the Vienna Music Academy, Uğurlu said he stopped writing classical compositions.

“If nothing is local, then it cannot be universal,” he said, and with this motto he prepares his repertoires and then shares them with the world.

Music is not only listened to at high-class places but also in slums and every part of Turkey, Uğurlu said. “My music is everywhere. That’s why I would like to give concerts at the Spice Bazaar, Grand Bazaar and Archeology Museum, in historical venues, in the middle of streets, in short everywhere.”

“When you give concerts in such places you know that the entire city listens to you. I am happy when I am close to the public, to people.”

In each city that Uğurlu visits, his representatives buy a piano. Currently in Turkey 16 cities have gained a piano thanks to Uğurlu.

Mersin, Bursa, İzmir, Çankırı, Kastamonu, Amasya, Çorum, Manisa, Tekirdağ, Diyarbakır and Batman are some of the cities that Uğurlu has visited for concerts.

The governor of the city that Uğurlu visits opens bidding and then buys a piano. “I go to a city and give a concert. I contribute to the cultural scene of the city and help the music to spread and make it reach the crowds,” added Uğurlu.

Natural on stage

Uğurlu said he was very natural on stage. “I am the same in my home and on the stage. I do not become someone else on stage.

This affects art lovers, and all kinds of people from different parts of the cities attend his concerts.
Uğurlu also refused to comment on other musicians. When asked about Fazıl Say’s comments, Uğurlu said he does not care about what other people say about events.

“You may call this a kind of megalomania, but I like to talk about myself.” He added that the things he has done need to be said by other people. “I carry piano culture to Turkey’s forgotten corners, and I want to continue this.” The pianist said there were lots of things to do. He will begin a new work titled “Temples of the Holy East,” Uğurlu said.