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Guher Pekinel and Suher Pekinel (born March 29, 1953, Istanbul) as identical twins, are world-renowned Turkish pianists performing mostly in duet.
Guher and Suher Pekinel
Early years
The Pekinels received their first piano lessons from their pianist mother. They appeared in public first at the age of six, and by nine years old they made their orchestral debut with the Ankara Philharmonic Orchestra.
After attending the Paris Conservatory and the Frankfurter
Musikhochschule, Rudolf Serkin invited the twins to continue their
studies with him at the Curtis Institute of music in Philadelphia. The
sisters completed their musical training at the Juilliard School in
1978, having also studied with Claudio Arrau and Leon Fleisher.
Furthermore, Adele Marcus and Yvonne Loriod were their teachers in solo
and Mieczyslaw Horszowski in duo.
At the age of 18, the Pekinels shared the first prize at the German
National Piano Competition as soloists, followed by several first
prizes in national and international competitions in Germany, Italy,
France and USA as a duo and also as soloists, including the first prize
in representing Germany at the UNESCO World Piano Competition in 1978.
Career
Following their musical training, Güher and Süher Pekinel were first
discovered by Herbert von Karajan in 1984 and engaged to appear at the
Salzburg Festival, to which they returned frequently in subsequent
years. They have since embarked on a worldwide career and played with
leading orchestras, including the Berlin, Vienna, New York and Israel
Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Royal Philharmonic, London
Philharmonic, Cleveland, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic,
RAI Milano, St. Cecilia and many other orchestras. Extended recital
tours took Güher and Süher Pekinel to the major music centers and most
important festivals of Europe, the United States, and Japan.
A special event was a performance at the opening concert of the Wiener
Festwochen in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta,
which was broadcast live to 23 countries worldwide through the Austrian
television. The season 2001-2002 saw new series of concerts with the
Trio Jacques Loussier in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Their concert
at the Schwetzinger Festspiele in June 2001 was broadcast live by SWR
TV and radio. Other performances include concerts with Wiener
Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique
de Monaco, Zuricher Kammerorchester and Philharmonisches Orchester
Hamburg and Braunschweig as well recitals in Germany, The Netherlands,
Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Norway and France. They toured with Zubin
Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
(Israel), following concerts with Zurich Chamber Orchestra in
Switzerland, Austria, Germany and recitals in Germany, Czech Republic
and Italy among other cities.
Recent highlights include their performance of the Mozart concerto for
two pianos at the Salzburg Festival and concerts with the Frankfurter
Museumsorchester under Michel Plasson at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt,
Germany. Among the 2000-2001 season‘s engagements were recital
performances in Germany, Switzerland, Hongkong Art Festival as well as
concerts with the Dresden Philharmonic at the Semperoper in Dresden and
the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon. In addition, they appeared in two
gala concerts in Lucerne, Switzerland with the Wuerttembergische
Philharmonie and with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo and
Marek Janowski for the opening of the new concert hall in Monte Carlo.
Today, the Pekinel sisters rank internationally as a piano duo of
extraordinary mastery and remarkable expressiveness. They are
recognized worldwide as a most exceptional duo of artistry and
magnetism. Their performances in recital and with the most leading
orchestras are considered to demonstrate extraordinary musicality,
keyboard command and unanimity of style and execution, and making
international musical headlines. The German Newspaper Die Welt wrote
"Among the finest in the top group of the best piano duos". As twins
sitting "back to back", they are the only duo, playing without any eye
contact.
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