Ferhan and Ferzan Önder

Twin-sisters Ferhan and Ferzan Önder were born in Tokat in 1965. They began playing the piano at age ten. At fourteen, they won the “Jury Special Award” at the International Duo Competition in Terni, Italy. After a series of further prizes, Ferhan & Ferzan won First Prize at the International Piano Duo Competition in Hamburg. Ferhan & Ferzan Önder studied music education and piano at Hacettepe University in Ankara. They pursued their study at the Academy of Music in Vienna with Noel Flores and Paul Badura-Skoda. Since their appearance at the Salzburg Festival on the occasion of being presented the “Promotion Prize of the City of Salzburg,” the twins enjoy a close professional relationship with the Doyen of Piano Duos, Alfons Kontarsky. By means of their electrifying playing, they have established themselves as one of the most promising Piano-Duo of the younger generation in the world’s concert circuit .

Extensive concert tours have taken the pianists throughout Europe, the Far East and America. They have performed in New York (Guggenheim), London (Wigmore Hall), Dresden (Semperoper), Munich (Gasteig and Prinzregententheater), Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Leipzig (Gewandhaus), Stuttgart (Liederhalle), Hamburg (Musikhalle), Berlin (Philharmonic), Bremen (Glocke), Zürich (Tonhalle), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Köln (Philharmonic), Barcelona (Palau de la Musica), Istanbul, Tokyo (Suntory Hall), Taipei, Salzburg, and Vienna (Musikverein, Konzerthaus).

The twins have been invited to perform at various music festivals: Rheingau Music Festival, Salzburg Festival, Beethoven Festival Bonn, Wiener Festwochen, Mozartfest, Würzburg, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Festival Classique de la Haute Provence, Sommets Musicaux Gstaad, Festival Meckelnburg-Vorpommern, Istanbul and Eskisehir Festivals, Ludwigsburger, Heidelberger and Weilburger Schlossfestspiele. In 2003, they performed with Sir Peter Ustinov at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and at the Voestiva in Linz. Similar musical-literary projects led to collaborations with Cornelia Froboess, Armin Müller-Stahl, Friedrich von Thun, Günther Jauch und Roger Willemsen.

Ferhan & Ferzan perform regularly with major orchestras like Staatskapelle Dresden, Mozarteum Orchestra, dem Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Dresdner Philharmonic, Philharmonia Wien, Stuttgarter Philharmonic, Zurich and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, MDR Orchestra Leipzig, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Haydn Orchestra Bozen, Rheinland-Pfalz Philharmonic, Tonkünstler-Orchestra Niederösterreich, RSO Zagreb and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra Ankara. As a result of successful concert tours in Japan, Ferhan & Ferzan have toured all major Japanese cities with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg with Hubert Soudant. In 2004 they returned to Japan for concerts with the New Japan Philharmonic (Christian Arming). Other concert tours took them to Mexico and the USA to perform with Florida Philharmonic and Toledo Symphony.

The duo has worked with conductors such as Christian Arming, John Axelrod, Hans Graf, Howard Griffiths, Max Pommer, Ola Rudner, Stefan Sanderling, Hubert Soudant, Muhai Tang, Israel Yinon, Gilbert Varga, Stefan Vladar, Hugh Wolff, and Massimo Zanetti.

In 2003, they were appointed “Goodwill Ambassadors” of UNICEF. Their first CD for EMI Classics, displaying Vivaldi´s Four Seasons and the Bach-Variations by Gustav Nottebohm, won the coveted “ECHO KLASSIK” prize of the German Phono Academy. The next release of the Önders for EMI was in fall of 2003 “1001 Nights/Sheherezade.” Currently, Ferhan and Ferzan Önder continue their activities in Europe and all over the world.

Reference: ferhan-ferzan.com, viemuc.com, shanghai.globaltimes.cn, kulsan.org, de.wikipedia.org