Şirin Pancaroğlu & Ignace Jang - Kuyruklu Yıldız Altında (Under the Shooting Star)

Şirin Pancaroğlu - Harpist:

At first glance, Turkey’s most renowned harpist, Şirin Pancaroğlu, is distinguished by her open approach to the music played on the harp. Convinced that the harp has a voice of its own strong enough to convey the full breadth of musical expression, Pancaroglu has been recognized in musical circles for her thorough interpretative skills and multifaceted musical personality. She regularly performs new music and traditional music originating from a variety of places and connects with audiences through her candid presence on stage where she often shares her insights on the music she plays. While contributing to the harp repertoire with new works commissioned by her or dedicated to her, she has also explored interesting instrumental combinations generally considered exceptional for the harp. In these collaborations she has set the harp next to percussion, to the Turkish harp, the “chang”, a jazz quintet, viola and voice. At the same time, Pancaroglu has continued to pursue an innovative repertoire for the harp and its more familiar companions such as the flute and violin as well as the harp duo. Indeed, discovering a variety of musical identities for the harp is one of her constant endeavors.

Şirin Pancaroğlu’s professional training is associated with two distinct French schools of harp, known as “Jamet” and “Renie”. While pursuing her harp studies, Pancaroğlu was greatly influenced by Susann McDonald, Frédérique Cambreling and Notburga Puskas. The latter offered valuable guidance during the earlier part of Pancaroğlu’s education, both technically and in the shaping of her musical personality. Today, Pancaroğlu explains that her relation to music is largely a result of McDonald’s approach to the harp as a solo instrument played with great clarity and brilliance and Cambreling’s rational approach to reading and interpreting music.

Born in 1968 in Ankara, Şirin completed the European part of her education at the Geneva Conservatory and subsequently received a Master’s degree from the Indiana University School of Music. Pancaroğlu began her professional music career in Washington D.C in 1993 by performing for a time in various settings with her instrument and experiencing the different aspects and layers of musicianship. Her debut concerts during the same year in the US and in Turkey elicited reviews in the press. Praised by the Washington Post in 1993 after a solo recital of French music for the harp as a “major talent of international caliber”, she received further acclaim in the Turkish press with the release of her first recording, “A String of Longing,” in 1998. The recording, comprising original and transcribed works for the harp was the first of its kind in Turkey and was received with enthusiasm by audiences at home. She followed with a duo recording in 2000 with violinist Ignace Jang titled “Under the Shooting Star” focusing on twentieth-century and contemporary dance and nocturnal music. Another solo album was released in 2005 with the recording, “Barokarp”. In 2009, Pancaroğşu released “Telveten” with percussionist Yinon Muallem, in which classical music dialogues with traditional music from various origins.

Pancaroğlu’s concerts have taken her around the world, including such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Wolf Trap in Virginia, the Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sejong Cultural Arts Center in Seoul, Takemitsu Memorial Hall in Tokyo, the Atatürk Cultural Arts Center and the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul. She was a guest at the Festival Printemps des Arts, Berlioz Festival, the Chirens Chamber Music Festival, the Semaines Musicales de Villeveyrac and the Trièves Festival in France; the Imagine New Music Festival, the Millenium Stage, the Ebb and Flow Arts Festival in the USA; the Belgrade Harp Festival in Serbia, the Rio de Janeiro International Harp Festival in Brazil, the Festival de la Cuidad de Mexico in Mexico as well as at all the major international festivals in Turkey. In addition, Pancaroğlu was a concerto soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, Washington Chamber Symphony, the Hermitage Soloists Ensemble, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, the Ancyra Chamber Orchestra, and the Akbank Chamber Orchestra under conductors such as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Stephen Simon, Alexey Utkin, Antonio Pirolli, Rengim Gökmen, Isin Metin, Cem Mansur and Ender Sakpınar.

Since 1994, Şirin Pancaroğlu has collaborated in concert with violist Tatjana Masurenko, flutist Elif Yurdakul, baroque flutist Jean-Christophe Frisch, oud player Yurdal Tokcan, kemençe player Derya Türkan, percussionist Yinon Muallem, violinist Ignace Jang, and harpist Tine Rehling in innovative ways. During the same period, she has premiered and recorded works written for her by contemporary composers such as Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Hasan Uçarsu, Gerardo Dirié, and Jeeyoung Kim. These commissions were made possible by the generous support of organizations such as the Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation and the Tekfen Foundation.

In 2006, Pancaroğlu’s interest in historical and native harps has led her to research the forgotten Near Eastern harp known as the “çeng”. On this journey, she received the support of the Tekfen Foundation for the re-making of the instrument and for the commissionning of a new work for çeng, harp and orchestra by Hasan Uçarsu whose “uninvited guests” she premiered with the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra at the 36th Istanbul Music Festival in June 2008. In July 2009, Şirin premiered her new project with the çeng, titled“The Sultan’s Harps” with the French early music ensemble “xii-21 Le Baroque Nomade” during the Turkish Season in France.

Aside from her concert activities, Pancaroğlu promotes the advancement of harp in Turkey, both through her teaching and as founder and current president of Turkey’s first harp association. In 2004, she introduced lever harps in Turkey and created the first ever non-pedal harp program for children there. Besides her determination to foster new interest in her instrument, Pancaroğlu shares her enthusiastic approach to her instrument as well as the engaging repertoire she has developed over the years with her students, caring as much for the mastery her students attain as for the depth of their bond to the harp. Pancaroğlu has also led international masterclasses and served as jury member in international competitions. She writes on topics ranging from harp pedagogy to performance techniques. Since 1999, she lives in Istanbul if only to be close to the deeply layered and inspirational sound cultures of Turkey.


Doublemoon Records, Turkey, CD, cassette tape

Works by Debussy, Piazzolla, Granados, de Falla, de Almeida along with premiere recordings of Jeeyoung Kim’s “Longing under the moon”, Gerardo Dirié’s “Notturno de la luna en tu frente” and Ricardo Lorenz’ “Jaromiluna”. An album featuring nocturnal music.


Press:

“Pancaroğlu is not only a virtuoso instrumentalist. Here, as in her performances, she tries a dramaturgy. Under the Shooting Star is entirely a “staging”. It is a presentation, her point of view of music as well as that of life.”
Sadettin Davran, Yeni Binyıl

"This duo is an example of two instruments such as the harp and violin playing together in an equal balance without one having to accompany the other. It must be said that in contrast with the typical soft colors of the harp and the hard and untamed edges of the violin, these roles are at times inversed. Under the Shooting Star is a must for those who would like to witness a classic of contemporary interpretation.”
Şehnaz Pak, Radikal


[…] “ The second best album of the year is this violin and harp collaboration.”
Filiz Ali, Radikal

Tracklist:
01. Beau Soir / Claude Debussy
02. La plus que lente / Claude Debussy
03. Jarominula
04. Nocturno de la Luna en Tu Frente
05. Bordel / Astor Piazzolla
06. Cafe 1900 / Astor Piazzolla
07. Nightclub 1960 /Astor Piazzolla
08. Longing Under The Moon…
09. Valse Romantique / Claude Debussy
10. İspanyol Dansı no.5
11. İspanyol Dansı / La Vida Breve
12. Seresta