A versatile musician, equally in demand as a soloist, chamber music partner and orchestral musician, violist Ezgi Pikayzen began her studies in her native city of Izmir, Turkey. A student of the two most celebrated Turkish violists, Prof. Cetin Aydar and Rusen Gunes, Ms. Icellioglu was invited to lead the viola sections of such orchestras as the Presidential Symphony of Turkey, Borusan and Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestras, Baskent Chamber Orchestra, New Manhattan Sinfonietta, Capital Symphony, Denver Philharmonic and countless others.
As soloist, Ezgi has appeared with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, Baskent Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Barocco Chamber Orchestra, Lomza Philharmonic Orchestra, Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra and many others, in such halls as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, the Palacio de Bellas Artes and Felipe Villanueva Hall in Mexico City, Presidential Hall in Ankara, Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan, Izmir Philharmonic Hall and in numerous venues across China, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, Spain, Mexico and Israel. She has collaborated on numerous occasions with such musicians as Fazil Say, Lior Shambadal, Gurer Aykal, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pirolli, Hobart Earle, Soyoung Yoon, Aziz Shokhakimov, and Alexander Rudin.
After completing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Ankara State Conservatory, Mrs. Pikayzen now splits her time between New York and Denver.
