Bio updated 10 29 (PDF)



Ekin Cemre Üstünel (born 1994) started her piano education at the age of six in Turkey. From
2000 until 2003 she studied under Öykü Petek Bilgili and Levon Eroyan. Then, beginning in
2003, she attended Mimar Sinan State Conservatory for Piano Education, where she studied
under Perim Hadimoğlu. Between the years 2004 and 2012 she has performed numerous solo
and chamber music concerts. In 2007 she won a competition and performed her first concerto,
Mozart Concerto (KV 456) with the Orchestra of Mimar Sinan State Conservatory. Then in 2008
and 2009 studied under Hüseyin Sermet and Laurent Cabasso in the Académie Internationale
d'été de Nice. Following this she participated in the masterclasses of Milena Mollova, Emre
Elivar and Toros Can. Her education then continued under Perim Hadimoğlu and Burcu Aktaş as
the senior student of Mimar Sinan State Conservatory. In 2013 she took the Mansion Reward for
Piano Duo from Edirne Mimar Sinan Rotary Club, Chamber Music Competition. Beginning in
late 2014 she moved to the United States and started to study under Greg McCallum to recover
from an injury she sustained. While studying under McCallum she learned and adapted the ways
of injury preventive piano technique that was developed by McCallum. Following her great
recovery, Ustunel had done solo recitals, a concerto performance and many other solo concerts in
2015. In March 2016, she won the first place in the 38th annual Dr. Sharyn Edwards Piano
Competition. Following this, she had a chance to have lessons with Dr. Paolo Andre Gualdi. In
May 2016 she played for Dr. John Salmon, Dr. Joseph Di Piazza and Dr. Andrew Willis.
Graduating from Mimar Sinan FAU as an honor student in June 2016 and successfully
auditioned for UNCG, Ustunel started her education as a student of Piano Performance Master’s
Program under Andrew Willis. In October 2016, she became one of the five students to study
with Ann Schein.