Burak Çebi, an outstanding pianist and composer of his generation, captivates audiences with his poetic, introspective approach to music making. His playing is marked by tonal perfection, subtly structured voicing and a range of moods and colours, allowing meditative moments to unfold, for example, in the late piano sonatas of Beethoven and in Chopin’s nocturnes. Since his recent successes in competitions in Italy, Spain, and Turkey, the Germany-based artist has made guest appearances in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Leipzig and practically all of Turkey’s major concert halls.
Çebi hails from a Turkish family of musicians with deep and extensive roots in the Western classical tradition. Although he received his first music lessons at the age of five, it was not until age 12 that he began to train as a pianist at the state conservatory in Izmir. He completed his musical studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Nuremberg, earning a soloist diploma. He attended the master classes of Stephen Kovacevich, Jean-François Antonioli, Hüseyin Sermet, Abdel Rahman El-Bacha, Filippo Gamba, Bernd Glemser and Jura Margulis. He was awarded first prize in the Orchestra Sion International Piano Competition in 2013 in İstanbul, second prize in Forum Orihuela 2016 in Spain and second prize at IMA Inharmonia 2016 in Rimini, Italy.
His hometown Izmir also provided the setting for his solo and orchestra debuts, the latter with the Izmir Symphony Orchestra, playing Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto under the direction of Ibrahim Yazici in 2007. He has given recitals and chamber music concerts in Berlin (Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, Haus des Rundfunks), Leipzig (Gewandhaus), Hamburg (Laeiszhalle), Bremen (Die Glocke), Dresden (Piano Salon), München (Steinway-Haus), Ankara (Bilkent Concert Hall, Staatsphilarmonie), Istanbul (Notre Dame de Sion, Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall), Izmir (Saygun Concert Hall, Hikmet Simsek Hall), Bayreuth (Steingräber-Haus), Bourges, Rostock, Hannover, Ingolstadt, Trier, Ludwigshafen, Bamberg and many other cities.
He participated in events such as the Klavier Akademie Freiburg 2011, Géza Anda-Klaviertage 2011, Heidelberger Frühling 2010, International Chamber Music Courses in Schaffhausen (Switzerland), Chance 2009 Piano Festival in Tegernsee among others. In his recital at the world-renowned Reitstadel concert hall in Neumarkt-Oberpfalz on the occasion of the bicen- tennial of Schumann’s birth in 2010, Çebi played a full Schumann programme and gained critical acclaim.
Burak Çebi, who also won prizes in the context of the international piano competition held in Steinway-Haus Munich in 2008 and the Mozart Chamber Music Competition in Nuremberg, has also been awarded scholarships from DAAD, Sparda Bank Nuremberg, Berlin Gotthard-Schierse Fund, Deutscher Musikrat, Deutsche Orchesterstiftung and the Richard Wagner Assocciation.
