Biography

Recognized as a piano virtuoso who preserves and enriches the Turkish piano heritage by introducing Turkish composers in Türkiye and abroad through her concerts and CDs, many of which include first performances and recordings of their works, Hande Dalkılıç was born in Ankara.

She received her first piano lessons privately from Prof. Güherdal Karamanoğlu Çakırsoy. In 1989, she began her academic music education at Bilkent University Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, where her musical formation, maturing and distinguishing itself at an early age, was developed to the level of a Proficiency in Art (doctorate) degree with Prof. Ersin Onay. During and after this period, she worked with and exchanged musical ideas with renowned pianist-pedagogues such as György Sándor, Sebastian Benda and Prof. Georg Sava.

Throughout her studies, Dalkılıç focused extensively on the works of Ahmed Adnan Saygun, incorporating many of his piano compositions into her repertoire and performing them. In this context, her first CD, which includes the world premiere of A. Adnan Saygun’s Op.76 Piano Sonata, was released in 2000 under the BMP label and re-released in 2007, again on the BMP label. She also edited Saygun’s Op.76 Sonata (manuscript), which was published by Peer Music Classical (Hamburg) in 2012.

Ms. Dalkılıç has also recorded Saygun’s Op.34, Piano Concerto No.1 (BMP), Muammer Sun’s Country Colours for solo piano (BMP and KALAN), Cemal Reşit Rey’s Variations on an Istanbul Folk Song for Piano and Orchestra, and the complete solo piano works of Ulvi Cemal Erkin (KALAN). She also recorded Çetin Işıközlü’s Tunes of the Upper Euphrates (KALAN), a collection of Eastern Anatolian folk melodies written for solo piano and dedicated to her by the composer.

In February 2019, her album My Favorite Romantics was released by KALAN Music, featuring works by Chopin, Liszt and Gottschalk, composers she most admires and frequently performs in her concerts. In 2002, together with state artists İdil Biret and Ayşegül Sarıca, she performed Bach’s concertos for three and four pianos live with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Erol Erdinç. The recording was released in Germany under the IBA Collection label and has been available on digital platforms via Naxos since February 2025.

Her recent album My Left Hand, bringing together rarely performed works composed for the left hand alone (a repertoire seldom performed worldwide and never before in Türkiye), was released in August 2025 by Gloss Musik GmbH and is available on all digital platforms.

In addition to solo recitals and chamber music concerts at international festivals in Türkiye and abroad (United States, Germany, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Finland, South Africa, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Israel, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Kenya, Northern Cyprus, Latvia, Malta, Egypt, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Tunisia, Ukraine and Greece), she has performed with foreign orchestras including Camerata Salzburg, as well as with all state symphony orchestras and various private ensembles in Türkiye, always paying special attention to including works by Turkish composers in her concert programs.

Some of the prominent festivals she has appeared in include the 34th International Sofia Music Festival (Bulgaria), the International Carthage Festival (Tunisia), the 18th, 22nd, 27th and 33rd International Ankara Music Festivals, the 5th International Antalya Piano Festival, the 9th and 14th International Bellapais Festivals (Northern Cyprus), the 5th D-Marin Turgutreis International Classical Music Festival, the 30th International Sarajevo Winter Festival, the 14th International Monferrato Piano Festival Piano Echos (Italy), the 11th International Tallinn Chamber Music Festival (Estonia), the 5th International Marile Serate Musicale Chamber Music Festival (Romania), the 52nd International Dimitria Festival (Thessaloniki-Greece), the International Orpheus Music Academy Festival and Summer School (Vienna), and the 17th, 21st, 22nd and 24th Boston Turkish Film and Music Festivals (USA).

Dalkılıç began teaching at Bilkent University Faculty of Music and Performing Arts in 1999 and worked as a lecturer in the Piano Department from 2003 to 2013. She earned the title of Associate Professor in March 2006 and was appointed as a full Professor at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory in November 2013. Between 2023 and 2025 she served as Head of the Piano Department and continues to teach as a faculty member. She is also the Turkish representative and founding president of EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association). Alongside her academic duties, she actively pursues her soloist career with recitals and concerts both in Türkiye and abroad.