Fazil Say

Fazıl Say has been delighting audiences and critics for more than twenty-five years. His interpretations are especially direct and exciting. He has worked with numerous renowned American and European orchestras and conductors, and developed a diverse repertoire that ranges from Bach to the First Viennese School and the Romantic era to music of today, including his own compositions for piano.

As a soloist Fazıl Say has performed in numerous countries on five continents. Highlights of the 2021/22 season have included concerts with the Oregon Symphony in Portland, the Camerata Salzburg, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague. This season he has devoted himself primarily to Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Schubert’s C minor Sonata D. 958, as well as to a programme of Handel, Beethoven and Schubert and to an exploration of French repertoire focussed around Couperin and Debussy – in both cases supplemented with his own compositions. His planned engagements in 2022/23 will take him to Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Istanbul and Paris, and also to Spain and the USA.

He also frequently performs as a chamber musician. He has created a fantastic duo with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja; other prestigious chamber music partners include Maxim Vengerov, the Minetti Quartet, Nicolas Altstaedt and Marianne Crebassa.

As a composer, Fazıl Say has written commissioned works for the Salzburg Festival, the WDR, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the BBC. His current œuvre includes four symphonies, two oratorios, various solo concertos and numerous piano and chamber works. In January 2022 his concerto for two pianos, Anka Kuşu, was given its premiere at the Isar Philharmonie by Lucas and Arthur Jussen and the Munich Philharmonic, conducted by John Storgårds. In May his Second Violin Concerto received its premiere, given by Friedemann Eichhorn and the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

Fazıl Say’s discography comprises more than forty CDs. His recordings on the Teldec, Warner Classics and Naïve labels have received multiple awards, including the ECHO Klassik award (four times) and a Gramophone Classical Music Award. In January 2020 he released a recording of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, and in 2022 he recorded Bach’s Goldberg Variations, both for Warner Classics.