MERT SOLMAZ
Mert Solmaz is a Berlin based Turkish pianist. He recently graduated in (M.A.) studies in Principal Piano under Margherita Traversa, an inspiring tutor and a brilliant performer with Summa Cum Laude, at Conservatorio Santa Cecilia (Rome). Solmaz has been selected by Italy’s internationally famous opera singer Amelia Felle’s “Lieder” and “Opera” class as a pianist and completed his three years of accademic internship in Ms. Felle’s class. He also holds an undergraduate degree from the same university.
Before joining Ms. Traversa in Rome, Solmaz studied piano with Cinzia Damiani (Rome), Prof. Hülya Tarcan(Istanbul), daughter of Bülent Tarcan, and Assoc. Prof. Ayca Yilmaz (Istanbul); harpsichord with Barbara Vignanelli; Chamber Music with Prof. Roberto Galletto (Rome) and Assoc. Prof. Iris Sentürker; lied accompany with Amelia Felle (Rome) and Ece Idil (Istanbul).
An enthusiast of the modern and contemporary music, Solmaz gave premieres in some of Istanbul’s and Rome’s most notable halls, including Sala Accademica (Rome), National Museum of Instruments (Rome), Hungarian Academy (Rome), Slovacian Embassy of Rome, Turkish Embassy of Rome, Albert Long Hall (Bogazici University), Sevgi Gönül Auditorium (Koc University) and the National Palaces Painting Museum (Istanbul).
Solmaz is an avid traveller, crossing national and artistic borders in pursuit of cross-cultural artistic collaborations. Tim Ovens, Boris Berman, Maurizio Vallina, Lior Shambadal, Benedetto Lupo, Rolf Plagge, Yury Martynov, Antoinette van Zabner, Misha Dacic, Pierre Reach, Ingrid Marsoner, Gulsin Onay and Drafi Kalman are some of the names he worked for masterclasses. Ms. Traversa’s mentoring and his cross-cultural collaborations helped Solmaz impress the juries of Bologna, Napoli and Salerno piano competitions, from where he returned with multiple prizes.
Solmaz, together with mezzo soprano Ayşe Ece Güneşşen have recently released his first digital single of two songs dedicated to Hiroshima atomic bomb attack, composed by Yüksel Koptagel who is known as one the first female composers of Turkey.