February 22, 2024

Published by Silent Whistle

The most compelling musicianship of the night came from pianist Evren Ozel, who did not miss an opportunity to take risks and draw unusual timbres out of the instrument during Dvořák’s Bohemian kaleidoscope of a piano trio, the Op. 90 in E minor (popularly known as the “Dumky”).

December 18, 2023

Published by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Incoming Bowers artist Evren Ozel is a pianist currently enrolled in the Artist Diploma program at New England Conservatory. He says, “[The program] is very flexible and allows me to be in school and still pursue my own career as a pianist and soloist. That’s a really nice thing.” Before beginning his official Bowers residency in the 2024–25 season, Ozel will join CMS musicians in a performance at Drew University in April 2024.

February 12, 2023

Published by The Millbrook Independent

Evren Ozel on piano arrived in a bolt of thunder to let the orchestra know that they were not alone and had to converse with this piano which demanded unusual hand stretches, sudden leaps, and wide-distant chords. This is a minor work that few pianists can manage.

May 11, 2023

Press Release

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) announces the nine individual artists and one ensemble selected for The Bowers Program, a highly competitive threeseason residency in which participants perform, tour, and teach alongside CMS artists.

MAY 10, 2023

Published by The Boston Musical Intellegencer, Vance R. Koven

Enticing as a balmy Spring day may be, Ashmont Hill Chamber Music came in with an even better offer on Sunday afternoon, an irresistible recital by violinist Geneva Lewis and pianist Evren Ozel perfectly balancing old and new, familiar and unfamiliar, soothing and challenging. The sold-out Peabody Hall at All Saints Church attested that we weren’t the only ones thus seduced.

March 28, 2023

Originally livestreamed Tuesday, March 28, at 6pm ET on WQXR

Join us LIVE from The Greene Space for the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grants announcement ceremony hosted by WQXR's Elliott Forrest. Performances by this year's recipients follow the announcement. Since the first Career Grants were awarded in 1976, there have been 171 Career Grant recipients. Past awardees include clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinist Gil Shaham, and pianist Yuja Wang. WQXR has been a broadcast partner since the first Career Grants were awarded, a relationship spanning 47 years.

March 5, 2023

Published by Seen and Heard International, Rick Perdian

‘I dislike masterclasses!’ was Dame Mitsuko Uchida’s welcome to those gathered to watch her mentor four pianists at Carnegie Hall. The basis for her disdain is a personal dislike of being taught herself.

The 74-year-old pianist and conductor is especially known for her interpretations of the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann. As a Carnegie Hall Perspectives Artist, she will be a regular presence there for the next two years, after having been absent from its stages since 2009.

Oct 7, 2022

Published by Third Coast Review

In listening to Evren Ozel’s excellent piano recital Wednesday afternoon, two words came to mind over and over: refined restraint. That is how this young artist approached each of the three works he performed at this week’s installment of the Dame Myra Hess Concert at the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist.

AUGUST 20, 2022

Published by The Boston Musical Intellegencer, Sibylle Barrasso

The young, Minneapolis-born Evren Ozel began Thursday’s Williams Hall concert for the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts with Leon Kirchner’s Interlude II. An immediate cascade of arpeggios, led to a more tranquil middle as the composition progressed. The elegant and expressive pianist then bowed and immediately launched the scary, high-wire äußerst bewegt (extremely animated) opening act of Schumann’s eight-movement Kreisleriana.

June 18, 2022

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

Kapustin and pianist Evren Ozel followed a second set of vocal quartet pieces with brilliant, rhythmically vital performances of Jascha Heifetz’s reworkings of six selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

June 17, 2022

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

The superb keyboardists were co-artistic director Roman Rabinovich and Evren Ozel, who in his second season as a “Rising Star” has earned a permanent place in the ChamberFest firmament. Facing each other at twin Steinways, the two played as one, deftly coordinating pearly runs and expressive dynamic changes.

June 8, 2022

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

Born in Minneapolis in 1999, pianist Evren Ozel has established a stellar reputation in Northeast Ohio.

He has competed twice in the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition at Oberlin, making it into the finals in 2013, when he also won the Audience Prize.

April 5, 2022

Published by The Boston Musical Intelligencer

Once again choosing an eclectic mix of chamber music primarily from the last two centuries, including a world premiere, the Chameleon Arts Ensemble featured four unfamiliar works and one chestnut evoking vivid and contrasting emotions. On Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Boston’s First Church, Chameleon advocated persuasively for making these discoveries more familiar.

Oct 28, 2021

Published by YourClassical

Minneapolis pianist Evren Ozel has competed in the International Chopin Competition.

Sep 13, 2021

Published by StarTribune

If Frederic Chopin was "the poet of the piano," how might you decide which pianist expresses that poetry best? Ultimately, it all depends on the tastes of the judges.

That is to say: Good luck, Evren Ozel. The 22-year-old pianist from Minneapolis soon will be on his way to Warsaw, one of six Americans among 87 pianists in one of the world's most prestigious piano contests, the International Chopin Competition.

Dec 7, 2020

Published by The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Thank you all for braving the circumstances to hear some live music,” said pianist Evren Ozel live at the Calderwood Hall. Almost “live” describes the subsequent YouTube video of the free Sunday concert given on November 29th before 19 spectators.

Mar 10, 2020

Published by StarTribune

A gentle, introspective expression passed over Evren Ozel’s face as he began playing the melody of Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11.

Mar 2, 2020

Published by South Florida Classical Review

The National Chopin Piano Competition’s final concerto round commenced Saturday night at Miami- Dade County Auditorium with two pianists electing to play Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 in E minor. Evren Ozel, 21 years old from Minneapolis, emerged the stronger interpreter and more technically assured musician.

Jul 5, 2019

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

There are rare, perfect moments in chamber music where minds meld and hearts coalesce in beautiful synergy. Violinist Nathan Meltzer and pianist Evren Ozel, both young phenoms, did just that with their pre-concert performance of Franck’s Violin Sonata during ChamberFest Cleveland’s Folklorica on Sunday, June 23 in CWRU’s Harkness Chapel. On an afternoon packed with stellar musicianship, the two distilled Franck down to its exquisite essence. I doubt I will ever hear a better rendition.

Jun 24, 2019

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

ChamberFest Cleveland descended from the heavens with “Under the Influence,” the inaugural concert of its eighth season on June 13 in CIM’s Mixon Hall. Exquisite interpretation, unparalleled finesse, and delightful music-making tied the evening’s selections together in performances of simply the highest caliber.

Jun 10, 2019

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

From its inception, the nurturing of young artists has been an important part of ChamberFest Cleveland’s mission. That tradition will continue during the Festival’s opening concert on Thursday, June 13 at 7:30 pm in CIM’s Mixon Hall, when pianist Evren Ozel joins clarinetist Franklin Cohen and cellist Peter Wiley for a performance of Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio in B-flat. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” Ozel said by telephone. “This is my first time playing that piece and to get to do it with these great masters of their instruments is very exciting.”

Jul 27, 2018

Published by The New York Times

MARLBORO, Vt. — The projectile whizzed past Tessa Lark’s ear just as she was trying to put into words what makes the Marlboro Music School and Festival here so special. Ms. Lark, a violinist, was eating dinner last Saturday at a long table crowded with musicians and their families. Later in the evening, she was to perform Brahms’s Piano Quintet alongside the pianist Mitsuko Uchida, Marlboro’s artistic director.

May 19, 2015

Published by ClevelandClassical.com

Evren Ozel, 15, from the USA, began his set with sensitive, probing playing of J.S. Bachʼs B-flat Minor Prelude and Fugue from WTC I. Ozel shone a little spotlight on every entrance of the fugue subject, even when it lurked as fragments in the counterpoint.