İlayda Deniz Oğuz

İlayda Deniz Oğuz (b. 2000) has been enjoying a diverse career as a solo pianist, collaborative pianist, and a composer. Since her first concerto debut in 2014 with Bilkent Symphony Orchestra in Turkey, she has performed with Presidential Symphony Orchestra in 2017 in Turkey, conducted by Orhun Orhon, and Agora Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2020, conducted by Nisan Ak. She has performed in masterclasses given by Dmitri Alexeev, Robert Levin, Dina Yoffe, Norma Fisher, Sofya Gulyak, Dina Parakhina, Ian Jones, Boris Berman, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Björn Lehmann, Markus Groh, and Hüseyin Sermet.

Also with a keen interest in historical performance, Oğuz frequently performs as a fortepianist. She has taken masterclasses in fortepiano with Robert Levin, Bart van Oort, Carole Cerasi, and Riccardo Cecchetti, and in clavichord with Terence Charlston and Robert Woolley.

Oğuz has collaborated with many contemporary composers, and she performed with the established Cikada Ensemble for new music under the baton of Christian Eggen, giving the premiere performance of 'Liquid Spaces' by the Turkish composer Berkant Genckal.

Oğuz has also established herself as a composer and enjoyed having her works performed by many prominent new music ensembles. Her song 'Anlatamıyorum' for solo mezzo-soprano and orchestra, which Oğuz composed when she was fourteen years old, was performed by Izmir State Symphony Orchestra in the finalist concert of the 9th National N. Eczacibasi Composition Competition in Turkey. Her solo viola work 'Yugen' was performed by Oslo Sinfonietta violist Bendik Foss in Sentralen, Oslo. She has had composition masterclasses with Mark Andre, Ulrich Kreppein, Samir Odeh-Tamimi, Hanna Eimermacher, and Eivind Buene. In 2023, she won the Composer Award at the Royal College of Music Contemporary Music Competition, with her piece ‘Yakamoz’ for bass clarinet and violoncello. In 2024, her piece 'ben o yılların macerasından geldim... (I came from the adventure of those years)' for orchestra earned her a honorable mention in the 1st International Ihsan Dogramaci Competition Composition.

Oğuz is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the Royal College of Music, London, as a Lady Ruth Fermoy Award Holder supported by the Henry Wood Accommodation Trust. Her piano professors are Dinara Klinton and Gordon Fergus-Thompson. She also studies composition with Alison Kay, and fortepiano with Geoffrey Govier.