By Heidi Trautmann…..www,heiditrautmann.com
The Presidential Symphony Orchestra invited the young violinist Sesil Anıl for her first two solo performances in Famagusta and Nicosia.
It always is a heartwarming experience for me to see young artists perform on stage and to follow their steps and progress over the years. To start with, they will perform in public with a piano accompanist, mostly their teacher, but then comes a moment, like we have here with Sesil Anıl, that brings them closer to professionalism. It was a first appearance with a full orchestra on the stages of the R.R. Denktas Cultural Centre in Famagusta on January 27 and one day later at the NEU Atatürk Cultural Centre in Nicosia.
The Presidential Symphony Orchestra under the musical direction of conductor Murat Menket and concert master Nihat Ağdaç, invited the young violinist to take part in two of their January concerts as a soloist with the Violin Concert No. 9 Op. 104 by Charles-Auguste de Bériot which was the second part of the orchestra’s concert programme
- The Overture from The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Violin concert No. 9 Op. 104 by Charles-Auguste de Bériot – Allegro Maestoso – Adagio – Rondo
- Franz Schubert Symphony No. 2 in B flat major D – Largo – Allegro Vivace – Andante – Menuetto – Allegro vivace -Trio – Presto.
There she entered the stage, a 15-year-old young beautiful woman, elf-like, with a light smile on her fully concentrated face and I watched her joining in with the orchestra, she grew, the violin became part of her and her presence was all music. She played all three movements with absolute self-confidence and artistic sensitivity. The applause from the audience was well deserved.
Who is Sesil Anil, what is her musical background? Young musicians have to go through work intensive years until they get this far, in their childhood years they give up many things for their music, however, let us have a look into her CV and for me, it only confirms what I know and have learnt from other young musicians who started training at the tender age of five….
I wish her strength and courage to follow her vision and have success and fulfilment as she goes.
Although this text is dedicated to the young violinist I don’t want to miss mentioning how much I enjoyed watching the young conductor Murat Menket and his lively engagement and youthful attitude, I have seen him for the first time with the orchestra.
Curriculum Vitae
Sesil Anıl was born in Nicosia in 2006. She started taking violin lessons from violinist and Suzuki trainer Gözlem Özdeğirmenci at the age of five. Sesil has taken part at a host of national and international concerts during her nine-year uninterrupted tenure as a student of Cyprus Art Music and Ballet School.
In 2009 she participated at the Suzuki Method Violin workshop which was held in Cyprus in 2013 when she studied with the French violin teacher Christophe Bossuat, one of the founders of Lyon Suzuki Institute and French National Suzuki Association. Also, in 2018 she had the opportunity to work individually with Christophe Bossuat on Vivaldi’s A Minor Violin Concerto.
In 2014 she gave a concert within the framework of “Meeting of Suzuki violin students” in Ankara to which the Cyprus Art violin students had been invited.
In 2015, at the age of 9, she took part at the 10th European Suzuki Congress that was held in Davos, Switzerland and there she had the opportunity to study and play with many violin teachers and instructors from 31 different countries.
Between 2016-18 she took part at the Suzuki Gala and 2nd Suzuki Violin Concerts that were held at the Bellapais Monastery in Cyprus and was accompanied by the Istanbul Music for Peace Youth Orchestra, when she performed Bach’s double Violin Concerto.
The young musician was one of the six Cyprus Art Music and Ballet School’s Cypriot violin students who had participated at the 54th Suzuki Method Grand Concert that was held in Tokyo, Japan. The concert at which El Sistema Japanese Children Orchestra had also taken part was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena and was attended by the Japanese Emperor.
In 2019 Sesil attended the Bosphorus International Music Academy which was held in Muğla, Turkey. Here she worked on violin techniques with the Istanbul Symphony Orchestra violinist Özüm Günöz. Upon the completion of the workshop she gave a solo concert as well as performing together with the Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 15 year old Sesil was accepted to the Masterclass Programme’s “Young Artist Programme” which was organised by the British Suzuki Music Association and which aimed for the Advanced Level students. This was delivered online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the course of this programme she has worked with the Polish violin teacher Anna Podhajska.
In 2022 she can now add her solo performance with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.
