Young Turkish pianist Can Saraç performed as a soloist with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan (GASO RT) on Nov. 7 at the Salikh Saidashev Grand Concert Hall in Kazan. The concert was held as part of the 16th Concordia International Festival of Contemporary Music named after Sofia Gubaidulina.
The Consulate General of Türkiye in Kazan announced that, at the invitation of GASO RT, the concert’s honorary guests were Pınar Alpay Yüksel, secretary-general of Türkiye’s Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation (Sevda-Cenap And Müzik Vakfı), and Can Saraç. Representatives of the Consulate General also attended the concert.
Ligeti, Bartók and Dohnányi
According to the orchestra’s program, the evening featured György Ligeti’s “Atmosphères,” Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in E major, with Saraç as soloist, and Ernő Dohnányi’s Suite for Orchestra in F-sharp minor, Op. 19. Hungarian conductor Dániel Somogyi-Tóth led the orchestra. In April, it was announced from the stage of the same hall that he would become GASO RT’s principal guest conductor starting with the 2026–2027 season.
“Concordia” was founded by Alexander Sladkovsky, artistic director and chief conductor of GASO RT. The festival is named after Sofia Gubaidulina, a composer born in Tatarstan, and is held every November in Kazan.
From Ankara to Kazan
Saraç was born in Istanbul in 2007 and began studying piano at the age of five. He studied at the Istanbul University State Conservatory, then continued his training with Professor Michael Schäfer in Munich and Professor Gökhan Aybulus in Istanbul. In 2025, the pianist received the Discovery Award at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Russian audiences already know him from solo concerts at the State Hermitage Museum and the GES-2 House of Culture; in 2024, he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.
The Turkish musician had previously performed with GASO RT. On April 28, 2026, the orchestra, conducted by Sladkovsky, performed the same Bartók concerto with him in Ankara at the 40th Ankara International Music Festival, organized by the Sevda-Cenap And Foundation. Turkish magazine Démarche wrote that Sladkovsky said at the time that it was the orchestra’s first performance of Bartók’s Third Concerto and that he particularly enjoyed performing with young musicians.
Photo: Consulate General of Türkiye in Kazan
