Ferhunde Erkin née Ferhunde Remzi (June 8, 1909—July 11, 2007) was a Turkish

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 born in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. Ferhunde Remzi started her first lessons in Bandırma

Bandirma

Bandırma is a city in northwestern Turkey with 113,385 inhabitants on the Sea of Marmara. Also, Bandırma is a district of Balıkesir....

 with her father Ali Remzi Yiğitgüden's guidance when her brother Necdet Remzi Atak started violin lessons.

Ferhunde and Necdet later took lessons from several teachers in Istanbul, but mostly from Karl Berger. They gave their first recital in Galatasaray High School on March 20, 1920 when Istanbul was under occupation after the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

With the advice of a music teacher, Von Kleibiner, Ferhunde and Necdet applied and received the Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...

 Foundation scholarship and went to Hochschule für Musik und Theater

Hochschule für Musik und Theater

Hochschule für Musik und Theater is the name of several German conservatories:* Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, one of the larger universities of music in Germany...

 in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

. They finished the three year school in two years and graduated in 1930.

Upon their return to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 both started as teachers at Musiki Muallim Mektebi (Music Teachers School) on April 7, 1931. Ferhunde Remzi met Ulvi Cemal Erkin

Ulvi Cemal Erkin

Ulvi Cemal Erkin was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904 - 1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction of music in the newly established Turkish Republic...

 on that same day. Ferhunde Remzi and Ulvi Cemal Erkin married on September 29, 1932.

She played in Berlin at wartime in 1943 with Berlin City Orchestra conducted by Fritz Zaun.

She played with Suna Kan

Suna Kan

Suna Kan, born on October 21, 1936 in Adana, Turkey. Great Turkish violinist.She started playing the violin at the age of five and gave her first public concerts when she was only nine years old, performing Mozart's A major and Viotti's A minor violin concertos with the Presidential Symphony...

 from 1961 till 1967 on several local and international concerts.

Ferhunde Erkin retired in 1967. Some of her students are Hüseyin Sermet

Hüseyin Sermet

Hüseyin Sermet is a Turkish pianist and composer. He is a Doctor Honoris Causa by the Boğaziçi and Marmara universities, and was named a State Artist in 1991. He is Co-President of ADAP , based in Paris.-External links:* * www.adapinternational.org...

, Nimet Karatekin, composer Nevit Kodallı

Nevit Kodalli

Nevit Kodallı is a Turkish composer of western-influenced classical music including operas and ballets. In 1948 he travelled to Paris where he studied with Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger...

, Bilge Aydın, Kamuran Gündemir, Filiz Ali

Filiz Ali

Filiz Ali is a Turkish pianist and musicologist.She studied piano at the State Conservatory of Music in Ankara. Graduating from Ferhunde Erkin's class in 1958, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States...

, Madlen Saydam, Tekin Alp Ulusoy and Zeren Dirim. She made the first playings of 22 piano concertos in Turkey.

Ferhunde Erkin received the Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation Honour medal in 1999.

Ferhunde Erkin died in Istanbul, on July 11, 2007.

External links

• Ferhunde Erkin official web site