Autistic pianist to perform Bach's piano concerto in Türkiye's capital

By Eda Ozdener

ANKARA (AA) - Autistic Turkish pianist Bugra Cankir, labeled a musical genius, will perform Bach's piano concerto as a soloist with an orchestra for the first time at a concert in the hall of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in the capital Ankara on Tuesday.

Born autistic, Cankir got the highest score in the absolute pitch test -- the ability to recognize a pitch without an external reference -- conducted by the University of California in the US at the age of 10.

His ability to distinguish the frequencies of all sounds in nature was registered by the Wisconsin Medical Society in 2007 and he was labeled a musical genius.

Despite his learning disability because of autism, he received formal music education and won a bronze medal in the International Piano Festival for People with Disabilities.

After these successes, Cankir, also a Ph.D. student at the Ankara Music and Fine Arts University, for the first time will perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Minor to be directed by Cemi’i Can Deliorman.

"It will be the first time he will give a concert in such a prestigious place under the baton of a prestigious conductor. In this concert, besides music, another life struggle, an experience, an adventure will be told," his father Kemal Cankir told Anadolu Agency.

Erhan Ozden, the rector of Ankara Music and Fine Arts University and the artistic director of the concert, said: "Bugra is a very special student, he has an absolute pitch. He has been a piano player since his childhood. He has the potential to be noticed right away. These special children are very important for the development of art education."

Bugra worked at least seven to eight hours a day in the preparation of this concert, Ozden added.