Gülsin Onay

Gülsin Onay — Biography

Born in Istanbul in 1954 into a musical family, Gülsin Onay began studying piano at age three under her mother's guidance and gave her first recital on TRT Radio at just six. A state scholarship at age ten took her first to Ankara and then to the Paris Conservatoire, where she studied under Monique Haas, Pierre Sancan and Nadia Boulanger, earning the Premier Prix de Piano at sixteen before completing her training at the Hannover University of Music.

Over a career spanning more than eighty countries, Onay has performed with orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and the Vienna and St. Petersburg symphonies, working with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Widely recognized as an exceptional interpreter of Chopin, she is also regarded as the leading champion of composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun's works internationally. She was awarded the title of State Artist in 1987 and has served as a UNICEF Turkey Goodwill Ambassador since 2003.

Onay has kept up an active concert schedule into 2026, giving recitals across Turkish cities, mentoring young talents through the piano festival that bears her name, and leading masterclasses.