About Ceren Necipoğlu
My dear friend Ceren
Necipoğlu died in the Air France flight 447 crash on
June
1st, 2009. She was returning home to Turkey via Paris after
giving concerts at the 4th Rio Harp Festival. Words cannot
express what a truly wonderful person and tremendously gifted artist
she was. Ceren was very
dear to me, and I am incredibly saddened with her loss.
The
Turkish music writer Şefik Kahramankaptan asked me to relay the story of our friendship
to him for a magazine article...
June 3, 2009
I have been overcome with grief since learning that Ceren was aboard the Air France plane that went down. Even though we lived in different countries on different continents, she was a very good friend and very special to me.
I first met Ceren in 2000 while we were studying at the Indiana University School of Music. I was introduced to Ceren when I had decided to compose my first work for harp. She helped me a great deal along the way by editing the piece for me. She would play through my ideas as well as excerpts from other works, and introduced me to many of the sound possibilities available on the instrument. We met every couple of weeks for a couple of months while I was writing it. Without her help, the piece would not be as successful as it is.
She premiered "Visions in Twilight" in April of 2001, and performed it on several other occasions. I have very fond memories of meeting her in Geneva, Switzerland in July of 2002 where she performed it at the 8th World Harp Congress.
When Ceren finished her studies at Indiana University in 2001 and returned to Turkey, I composed another short work for her as a going away present. It is titled "Amhrán Slán", which means farewell song in Irish, and incorporates an old Irish melody. She performed both of these compositions on her concerts in Rio.
Ceren and I wrote to each other by email several times before and during her trip to Rio. I came very close to traveling to Rio myself in order to see her and to attend her concerts. Unfortunately I did not obtain a visa in time and had to cancel the trip. To say that I am beside myself with grief is an understatement. Ceren was a fantastic harpist and an extraordinarily kind and giving person. The world has lost a truly unique, talented and beautiful person.
-Garrett Byrnes
I have been overcome with grief since learning that Ceren was aboard the Air France plane that went down. Even though we lived in different countries on different continents, she was a very good friend and very special to me.
I first met Ceren in 2000 while we were studying at the Indiana University School of Music. I was introduced to Ceren when I had decided to compose my first work for harp. She helped me a great deal along the way by editing the piece for me. She would play through my ideas as well as excerpts from other works, and introduced me to many of the sound possibilities available on the instrument. We met every couple of weeks for a couple of months while I was writing it. Without her help, the piece would not be as successful as it is.
She premiered "Visions in Twilight" in April of 2001, and performed it on several other occasions. I have very fond memories of meeting her in Geneva, Switzerland in July of 2002 where she performed it at the 8th World Harp Congress.
When Ceren finished her studies at Indiana University in 2001 and returned to Turkey, I composed another short work for her as a going away present. It is titled "Amhrán Slán", which means farewell song in Irish, and incorporates an old Irish melody. She performed both of these compositions on her concerts in Rio.
Ceren and I wrote to each other by email several times before and during her trip to Rio. I came very close to traveling to Rio myself in order to see her and to attend her concerts. Unfortunately I did not obtain a visa in time and had to cancel the trip. To say that I am beside myself with grief is an understatement. Ceren was a fantastic harpist and an extraordinarily kind and giving person. The world has lost a truly unique, talented and beautiful person.
-Garrett Byrnes
Eleventh World Harp Congress - Vancouver, BC Canada
A tribute concert was given
during the
11th World Harp Congress in honor of Ceren Necipoğlu. The
program included a wealth of harpists from around the world and music
that was close to Ceren's heart. A few days before
her death, Ceren asked Garrett to compose a new solo work that she
could
premiere at the congress. "Ottoman Fire" is the last movement from that
work, Valley of Butterflies, and it was premiered by Lavinia Meijer.
Ceren Necipoğlu's Fan page on Facebook
Wikipedia article about Ceren Necipoğlu
The program of Ceren's Turkish concert in Eskişehir on May 5, 2009 [PDF]
(She performed the same program for her final concerts in Rio)
A Community Park in Eskisehir, Turkey has been dedicated to Ceren's Memory
Additional article and photos of Ceren