Music, Science, Hard Work Balance in Bilkent Pianist
BY UTKU OBUZ (CTE/I)
Yiğitcan Özer was born in İzmir in 1991. In his second year in Bilkent's Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Yiğitcan is also taking piano courses in the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts.
BN: What are difficulties of studying in two different faculties?
Yiğitcan Özer: Electronics is not an easy department at all. Playing the piano makes it much more difficult. I should practice 4 hours a day. At nights, I have to do my homework. I can say that it is absolutely exhausting.
BN: When did you begin to be interested in music?
YÖ: I started keyboard course when I was in the primary school. After I had started my 7th year in school, I won entry into the Piano Department of Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir. However, I also enrolled to science high school because I won the Student Selection Examination of High Schools (OGS), too.
BN: How does your family feel about you applying to two different branches of education?
YÖ: My family was afraid of that I would give up electronics. They actually want me to study medical science but I did not. I am studying electronics because I want to, not because my family made me. I like studying electronics.
BN: Was it easy to begin studying in the Faculty of Music?
YÖ: After I started to study in electronics, I talked to the dean of the Faculty of Music but instructors were pessimistic. After Emre Şen (M.M., Concert Performance-Piano, Royal College of Music, London, 2004) listened to me, he said, "OK, you can start to study as my student."
BN: Do you prefer playing the piano as a job in the future?
YÖ: I think that I should learn everything as a professional pianist, but financial concerns decrease the value of music and art. It is not good to rely on performance for income. Even if I continue to play the piano, I will not do it in order to make money.
BN: Can you find time for a social life?
YÖ: Not as much as my friends can, but yes, I can. I go to the cinema and concerts. It is not a problem 2 or 3 hours a week. What the important thing is making a schedule and obeying its "rules."
BN: Is there any school that offers you a scholarship in other countries?
YÖ: There were level-setting examinations of Royal College of Music in England, and I earned a distinction. Now, I have chance to sit the diploma exam of the College. However, no one has offered me a scholarship.
BN: What university would you prefer if you had a chance to study anywhere?
YÖ: My choice is Royal College of Music because one of my teachers graduated from it. This is a good example for me. In addition, Kevin Kenner is in there. He is an American pianist. At the age of 17, he participated in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw and was awarded the 10th prize and a special prize from the jury for his promising talent. I am a fan.
BN: 15 years from now, what will you be doing?
YÖ: I will have my own job. I will be able to control my time. I can work to gain experience, but in 15 years, I am pretty sure that I will have a good job.
BN: As you are living "in the music," what kind of music do you enjoy to listen to?
YÖ: Classical music, of course Chopin. But also I would like to listen to singers as Candan Erçetin and Sezen Aksu. French traditional singers are perfect, too, like Edith Piaf.
BN: What is your biggest dream or goal in your life?
YÖ: Participating in the Chopin competition, which is one of the top contests. I can also say that I came Bilkent in order to study piano.
BN: Have you any advice to students?
YÖ: The mathematics we are learning is quite difficult in electronics. I have also a piano class. Last year, I was going to the piano exercises between classes. After lunch, I practiced some more. I was going to sleep every night at 2 a.m. I guarantee that if I did have not like my departments, I wouldn't do such things. A student should like her/his department and should not regard anything as a necessity. Learning is fun and gives a sense of satisfaction. Hard work is just part of it, but it pays off.