Emre Yavuz was born in 1990, in the city of Izmir. His talent for learning at a quick pace showed at an early age and this eventually led to a music education, encouraged by his parents and sister. He officially started his music education in 1998 under Law 6660 – Educational Act for Prodigy Children, studying with Kamuran Gundemir in the Hacettepe University of Ankara. At the age of eleven, he was awarded the first prize for his category in the Blue Bird International Music Competition in Crimea, Ukraine, where he was also awarded a prize for the best contemporary music interpretation. During his high school, he studied with Fazil Say and Sanem Berkalp in the Bilkent University of Ankara, where he also studied composition.
Emre performed concertos of Mozart, Chopin, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff with the major orchestras of Turkey, such as the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Izmir Symphony Orchestra, Bursa Symphony Orchestra, Antalya Symphony Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and Borusan İstanbul Philharmonic Orchestra under the conduction of Gürer Aykal, İbrahim Yazıcı, Rengim Gökmen and Ender Sakpınar. In 2004, he performed in an International Piano Festival in Antalya and an International Music Festival of Spivakov, in Moscow. In 2007, Yavuz was awarded the Chopin Special Grand Prize in Ibla, Sicily. In 2010, Emre won the “Rotary Interpretationspreis Chopin & Schumann” in Vienna and gave concerts with the Bratislava Philharmonic Orchestra at Musikverein and Radio-Kulturhaus in Vienna as well as in other cities of Austria. Since 2006, Emre has studied with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the University of Music, Drama and Media in Hanover, Germany and with Roland Batik in Vienna. He became the first student to graduate from the Vienna Conservatory by receiving full points from all jury members for his interpretations of Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Saygun in his graduation recital. Additionally, he took part in masterclasses with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Seymour Lipkin.
In August 2012, Emre Yavuz won first prize in the 4th International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition in Vienna where he was recognized with an “outstanding artistic personality”. Besides Hanover, Emre is currently continuing his graduate studies with Arie Vardi at the Buchmann & Mehta School of Music in the Tel Aviv University.
