Sirin Pancaroglu
Encyclopedia
Şirin Pancaroğlu is a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
harpist.
She performs both traditional and modern pieces. She has premiered pieces written for her by Gerardo Dirié, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is an Azerbaijani composer and pianist, currently living in Germany. She is best known for her works which combine the musical tradition of the Azerbaijani mugam and 20th century Western compositional techniques, especially those of Arnold Schönberg and Gara Garayev...
, Jeeyoung Kim, Ricardo Lorenz, Hasan Uçarsu and Meliha Doguduyal. In addition, she has been expanding her repertoire by transcribing for harp from an array of musical traditions. Over the years she has collaborated in chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
with violinist Ignace Jang, violist Tatjana Masurenko, flutist Kornelia Brandkamp, harpist Tine Rehling and soprano Ayşe Sezerman, and recently with Israeli percussionist Yinon Muallem, creating an innovative repertoire and commissioning new music for these combinations.
Performing career
Pancaroğlu has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Wolf Trap in Virginia, Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, Takemitsu Memorial Hall in Tokyo, the Atatürk Cultural Arts Center and the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert HallCemal Resit Rey Concert Hall
Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall is a concert hall located in the Harbiye neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the country's major concert halls, being the first one designed for classical music. It is named after the great Turkish composer Cemal Reşit Rey, the hall is owned by the...
in Istanbul. She performed at all the major international festivals in her homeland (Istanbul International Music Festival
Istanbul International Music Festival
The Istanbul International Music Festival, formerly Istanbul Festival, is a cultural event held every June and July in Istanbul, Turkey. It offers a selection of European classical music, ballet, opera and traditional music performances with the participations of famous artists from all over the...
, International Ankara Festival, Yapı Kredi Art Festival, International Eskişehir Festival, Izmir International Festival, International Mersin Music Festival), Imagine New Music Festival in US, Belgrade Harp Festival in Serbia, Festival de la Ciudad de México in Mexico City, the Berlioz Festival, the Chirens Chamber Music Festival, the Semaines Musicales de Villeveyrac and the Trièves Festival in France.
In addition, Ms. Pancaroğlu was a concerto soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
The , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, Washington Chamber Symphony, the Hermitage Soloists Ensemble, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, the Ancyra Chamber Orchestra, and the Akbank Chamber Orchestra.
Education
Şirin Pancaroğlu started harp in IstanbulIstanbul
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...
. She grew up in Turkey, Switzerland, Indonesia, and the US. She studied harp at the Geneva Conservatory with Catherine Eisenhoffer and received her Diploma in 1988. She completed her formal education studying with Susann McDonald
Susann McDonald
Susann McDonald is an American-born classical harpist. In addition to a successful performing career, she has made a number of recordings and held significant academic and organizational posts.-Life:...
at the Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
School of Music where she received a Master of Music degree in 1992.
Recordings
- Hasret Bağı (“A String of Longing”) was released in 1998 on the Kalan MuzikKalan MüzikKalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish independent record label company based in Istanbul. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes...
label in Turkey. - Kuyruklu Yıldız Altında (“Under the Shooting Star”) features night musics for harp and violin (Ignace Jang, violin) and was released in 2000 DoublemoonDoublemoonFounded in 1998 as an offshoot of Pozitif Productions, Doublemoon Records, is an independent pioneering label based in Istanbul, Turkey dedicated to spreading the cultural tapestry that is the city’s sound around the world...
Records. - “Barokarp” solo release in 2005 (Triolila).
Teaching career
Ms. Pancaroğlu returned to Turkey in 1999 and has been active as a soloist and teacher. She established the harp class at Yildiz Technical UniversityYildiz Technical University
Yildiz Technical University is a technical university dedicated to engineering sciences and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Istanbul, Turkey. The central campus lies within the Beşiktaş district.-History:Yildiz Technical University has a distinguished history which began...
’s Faculty of Art and Design and created the first ever non-pedal harp program for children in Turkey in 2004. Invited to teach masterclasses in Japan, Serbia, Slovania and in her native Turkey, Ms. Pancaroğlu is a published writer on practice techniques for harpists, an area of interest she has also lectured upon at the 9th World Harp Congress
World Harp Congress
The World Harp Congress, Inc. is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to players of the harp, with members in over 50 countries around the world. It was established in 1981....
in Dublin. She performs on two Lyon & Healy Concert Grand harps made in Chicago in 1960 and 1992.