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Hande Özyürek (born 2 August 1976, in Istanbul) is a Turkish violinist. She has been a member of the Munich Radio Orchestra (German: Münchner Rundfunkorchester) since 2003 and has released a solo CD. She also teaches at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory.

Career
Özyürek started her first violin lessons when she was 11 years old. She studied violin with Çiğdem İyicil and composition with Cengiz Tanç at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory in Istanbul, Turkey. She graduated with the highest distinction in 1995. At the age of 19, she went to Germany with a scholarship from the Turkish Foundation for Education to study with Lukas David and Tim Vogler at the Music Academy of Detmold (German: Hochschule für Musik Detmold). Furthermore she completed the soloist class with distinction under the guidance of renowned violinists Antje Weithaas and Joshua Epstein at the University of Music in Saarbrücken (German: Hochschule für Musik Saar).

Since her first orchestra debut at the age of 16, Hande Özyürek has performed as a soloist in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Italy, and Turkey; playing with major orchestras like the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (Belgium), the Mozart Symphony Orchestra (Germany), Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria), Sud-West Deutsche Philharmonic, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, İzmir State Symphony Orchestra, Çukurova State Symphony Orchestra and Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Başkent Academic Orchestra of Ankara and several chamber orchestras (Milli Reasürans, Borusan and Camerata Saygun).

Hande Özyürek's achievements won her several awards, including the "Sedat-Güzin Gürel" Award, the "Förderpreis" Career Grant for Young Performers, and the "Young Musician of the Year" Award of the British Council. She took part in international competitions; winning second prizes in San Bartolomeo, Italy for violin in 2001 and for chamber ensemble in 2003. The concert tour through Italy that came with the prize was a great success. Furthermore, in 2003, Hande Özyürek was awarded Junior Chamber International's "Cultural Achievement" award in Turkey.

The international festivals she has participated in are the Bach Festival, Villingen-Schwenningen Music Festival, Ankara Music Festival, Istanbul International Music Festival and Eskişehir Music Festival. Moreover, she recorded some of the most interesting works from her large and varied repertoire for radio and television.

Özyürek's first solo album, Face to Face with Saygun, was released in September 2007 by Kalan Music as a tribute to distinguished Turkish composer Ahmet Adnan Saygun on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. This CD features Saygun's complete violin-piano compositions as well as solo violin pieces by prominent composers Özkan Manav and Babür Tongur, who were also students of Saygun.

Awards

 * 2007 1st prize (recording), the 15th International Vienna Music Competition (Vienna, Austria).
 * 2003 2nd prize, the Music Competition 'Palmo d'Oro' (San Bartolomeo, Italy).
 * 2003 The Cultural Achievement Award, Junior Chamber International.
 * 2001 4th prize, the International Chamber Music Competition 'Rovere d'Oro' Italy).
 * 1999 2nd prize, the competition "Young Musician of the Year" (British Council).
 * 1998 4th prize in the violin competition of the Friedrich-Jürgen-Sellheim Foundation (Hannover, Germany).
 * 1996 Career Grant for Young Performers, The "Förderpreis" (Lüdenscheid, Germany).
 * 1995 Sedat - Güzin Gürel Art and Science Foundation Achievement Award (Istanbul, Turkey).

Discography

 * 2007 Face to Face with Saygun (Hande Özyürek)