The Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation provides support to outstanding young musicians who are doing advanced training abroad. For the 2020-2021 academic year, the foundation is providing scholarships to 15 young musicians, raising the total number of students who have benefitted from this scholarship program to date to 146.

The Foundation congratulates the scholarship winners and wishes them success in the musical studies and career.

2020-2021 Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation Music Scholarship Recipients

Aslıhan Keçebaşoğlu / Composition
Aslıhan Keçebaşoğlu won a full scholarship to Bilkent University's Faculty of Music and Performing Arts and graduated from the university's Department of Theory and Composition with high honors. In 2019, she was one of two people accepted into the master's program of the Sibelius Music Academy's Department of Composition, where she is studying with the composer Matti Puumala. This is the second year that Aslıhan is receiving a Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Music Scholarship, and she is writing her graduate thesis on an element of musical composition (the "edvar") that played an important role in the history of Turkish music.

Deniz Ayşe Birdal / Cello
Deniz Ayşe Birdal graduated from the Leopold Mozart Violincello Department of Augsburg University's Philosophy and Social Sciences Faculty in 2018 and was accepted in the university's graduate program as a student of Prof. Julius Berger. Since October 2019, she is also studying with the cellist and composer Prof. Giovanni Sollima at the Roma Santa Cecilia Academy. In 2021, with the support of Prof. Giovanni Sollima and the Amsterdam Cello Biennial, Deniz will release her first CD of compositions for a solo violincello that she wrote herself. This is the second year that Deniz Ayşe Birdal has received a Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation music scholarship.

Deniz Esen / Harp
Deniz Esen studied harp with Gabriella Bosio at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” in Torino and graduated in 2018 with the highest possible score. She was accepted into the conservatory's graduate program the same year. In 2018 she also passed the auditions for the Italian Conservatories Symphony Orchestra. After successfully auditioning for Cristina Bianchi's masterclass, she was invited to continue her graduate studies in Munich. With the support of her second Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation music scholarship, Deniz Esen will continue her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in 2020-2021.

Denizsu Polat / Viola
Denizsu Polat completed her undergraduate degree at the Mozarteum Salzburg, where she studied with Professor Veronika Hagen of the Hagen Quartet, and began her graduate studies at the same university in 2020. In 2018 Denizsu was elected to the "Women Stars of Tomorrow" support program run by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV). In 2020 Denizsu auditioned successfully for the position of substitute violist for the Camerata Salzburg Orchestra and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. She also placed first among viola applicants in the entrance exam for an apprenticeship with Turkey's Presidential Symphony Orchestra and was accepted into the Pan Caucasian Youth Orchestra.

Ece Selin Yüksel / Flute
Ece Selin Yüksel started her undergraduate degree at the Mersin University State Conservatory in 2016. In subsequent years she was the first flautist in the Istanbul University State Conservatory Symphonic Orchestra, the Mersin University State Conservatory Academic Chamber Orchestra, and Mersin University State Conservatory Student Orchestra. In 2018, she was accepted without audition into the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot as a student of Jean Ferrandis and given a partial scholarship. In the 2020-2021 academic year, Ece continues to study with Jean Ferrandis as a first-year student in the Advanced Level Concert Musician Program at École Normale de Musique de Paris.

Elman Mecid / Percussion
Elman Mecid completed his undergraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg between 2014-2019. In 2014, he gave two concerts at the Istanbul Music Festival. As a member of the Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, he has performed in many countries. In 2019 alone, he performed in five concerts in Germany as a soloist in the Landesjugendsinfonieorchester Hessen (Landes Youth Symphony Orchestra Hessen). Elman has been accepted into the graduate program of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, where he is studying with Prof. Cornelia Monske.

Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev / Violin
Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev completed his undergraduate degree at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Spain in the class of Professor Zakhar Bron. In 2019, on the invitation of Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn, he began his graduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany. In 2019, he also received the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts' Aydın Gün Encouragement Award and released his first solo album “Fazıl Say’s 1001 Nights in the Harem Violin Concerto”. Elvin has won awards in the Golden Medal Berliner International Music Competition, David Oistrakh Violin Competition, Lipinski-Wieniawski Competition for Young Musicians, and Vienna International Music Competition.

Erdem Delibaş / Trombone
Erdem Delibaş completed his undergraduate degree at the Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatory. He was accepted into the graduate program of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock as a student of the Deutsche Oper principal trombonist Prof. Jamie Williams and the Deutsches 2Symphonie Berlin Bass trombonist Tomer Maschkowski. A two-year recipient of Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation music scholarships (2018-2019 and 2019-2020), Erdem won first prize in 2020 in the Heiligendamm music competition as a member of the Hansa Blechbläser Quintett (Brass Quintet).

Ezgi Göktürk / Piano
Ezgi Göktürk received her undergraduate degree from the Helsinki University of Arts Sibelius Academy, and is continuing her graduate studies there in piano with Erik T. Tawaststjerna and Anna Kuvaja and in chamber music with Tuomas Turriago. In 2018 she was elected to the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts' “Women Stars of Tomorrow” program. She is the pianist of Trio 424, established at the Sibelius Academy. In 2019 she was given the opportunity of performing a chamber music concert with the woodwind section of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. This is the second year that Ezgi, who is also studying music education, has received a Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation music scholarship.

İdil Kutay / Opera
İdil Kutay is training with Pınar Yıldırım Finke at the Mimar Sinan Conservatory. She studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the voice class of Maria Acda, where she received the outstanding grade of 9.5/10. During the last two years of her undergraduate training she studied with Lenie van den Heuvel and Catrin Wyn-Davies. In 2019, she won second prize in the Alīda Vāne International Singing Competition in Latvia and was accepted into the Dutch National Opera Academy’s master's program. This is the second time that İdil has received a Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation music scholarship.

İlker Yiğit Gül / Lied and Oratorio
İlker Yiğit Gül completed his undergraduate degree in the Opera Department of the Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory as a student of Prof. Pekin Kırgız. In 2019 he won first prize in the 4th İstanbul Barok Üslupta Aryalar [Baroque Style Arias] competition. In 2020, he began his graduate studies in the Lied and Oratorio Department of the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien in Austria.

Melis Çom / Harp and New Music
Melis Çom received her undergraduate degree in 2015 from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where she studied harp with İpek Mine Sonakın, and continued her graduate studies at the same university. During this period she began her career in education as a faculty member at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory and attended the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München through the Erasmus program. Since 2019, she has studied with Cristina Bianchi. In the 2020-2021 year Melis will continue her graduate studies in both harp and the New Music program at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.

Pelinnur Işıkçı / Piano and Chamber Music
Pelinnur Işıkçı graduated from class of Prof. Esin Onay Kanberoğlu at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory with high honors. Through the Erasmus program, she studied in Poland with Prof. Jozef Stompel for one year. In 2019, she was elected to the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts' “Women Stars of Tomorrow" program. Her chamber music group, the “Mephisto Trio”, was invited to perform at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music in Houston. Since April 2019, Pelinnur has studied with Prof. Caspar Frantz in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig graduate program for chamber music.

Sabahattin Emre Türktopu / Oboe
Sabahattin Emre Türktopu began studying at the Mersin University State Conservatory. In 2017, he was accepted into the French-Hungarian-German International Symphonic Orchestra and played in some of Europe's most important concert halls as the principal clarinetist. In 2019, he entered the Conservatorio della Svizzera's graduate program as a student of Prof. Fabien Thouand, a world-famous virtuoso and lead clarinetist of Teatro alla Scala. During the 2019-2020 academic year Sabahattin played with a number of important orchestras and groups, including the Orchestra di Fiatti della Svizzera italiana and 900Presente. He also took part in the master class of the celebrated oboist François Leleux. This is the second time Sabahattin has received a Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation music scholarship.

Tolga Akman / Trombone
Tolga Akman started his undergraduate studies in 2014 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover in the class of Prof. Jonas Bylund. During this period, he performed with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, he was awarded a “Markische Stipendium” scholarship. In 2020, he was accepted into the academy of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, currently under the direction of Valery Gergiev. He will continue his graduate studies at the Hochschule der Künste Bern in Switzerland in the class of Prof. Ian Bousfield.