Biography
Mevsim Engin is a highly accomplished violist with a rich and diverse background in music. She has received extensive training in both viola and violin, participating in numerous festivals and masterclasses that have contributed significantly to her professional development. Currently pursuing her doctoral studies at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, she also serves as a lecturer, training violin students in viola performance.
Mevsim began her advanced viola studies in 2021 at the Liszt Academy, where she trained under the esteemed Barsony Peter. During her academic career, she has been actively involved in many prestigious festivals and masterclasses, including the Kaposvár Music Festival, Hvide Sande Mastercourses/Festival, Budapest Spring Festival, Festival Academy Budapest, and the Aarhus Opus Festival, among others. She has enriched her education through masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Nobuko Imai, Jessica Stumm, Christian Euler, Tim Fredericksen, and Isabella Villanova. Additionally, she has worked alongside notable chamber music partners and teachers like Baráti Kristóf, Kelemen Barnabás, Isabelle van Keulen, Henrik Brendstrup, and Maria Pukhlianko.
Her vast experience as a violist has led her to perform with various orchestras and ensembles across the globe. Mevsim has played in some of the world’s most esteemed concert venues, including Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Shanghai Grand Theater, and Suntory Hall Tokyo. Her orchestral and chamber music performances have earned her a reputation as a versatile and heartfelt musician.
In June 2023, Mevsim had the honor of performing as a soloist in the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy, where she played Bartók’s Viola Concerto with the Academy Orchestra. She was awarded second prize and a special prize at the Lukács Pál Viola Competition. Throughout her career, she has been a member of several prominent orchestras in Hungary, including the Savaria Symphony Orchestra, the Győr Philharmonic, and the Alba Regia Symphony. She has also performed as a substitute with the Hungarian National Opera and the Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra. Her one of the goals of the research program is to explore the historical connections between Hungarian and Turkish music and to introduce Saygun’s Viola Concerto into the repertoire.
Mevsim currently plays a viola crafted by Hungarian luthier Tamás Guminar, further complementing her remarkable musical journey.
Repertoire
1.Necil Kazim Akses
– Hüzünlü Melodi
– Capriccio for Viola
2. Ahmet Adnan Saygun
– Viola Concerto
3. Ludwig van Beethoven
– Grand Duo in E-flat major for Viola and Cello
4. Hector Berlioz
– Harold en Italie, Symphony for Orchestra with Viola Obbligato, Op. 16, H. 68 (1834)
5. Georges Bizet
– Adagietto from “L’Arlésienne” (1872); Transcription for Viola and Piano by William Primrose
6. Benjamin Britten
– Double Concerto in B minor for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (1932)
– Elegy for Viola Solo (1930)
– Etude for Viola Solo (1929)
– Lachrymae – Reflections on a Song by John Dowland for Viola and Piano, Op. 48 (1950); for Viola and String Orchestra, Op. 48a (1976)
– Reflection for Viola and Piano (1930)
– Two Portraits for Strings: No. 2 ‘E.B.B.’ for Viola and String Orchestra (1930)
7. Max Bruch
– Canzone in B♭ Major for Viola and Piano, Op. 55 (c.1891)
– Concerto in E minor for Clarinet (or Violin), Viola and Orchestra, Op. 88 (1911)*
– 8 Stücke for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 83 (1910)
– Kol Nidrei for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 47 (1880)
I – Romanze in F Major for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 85 (1911)
8. Robert Schumann
– Märchenbilder, Op. 113 for Viola and Piano
– Viola Sonata (arranged from his Violin Sonatas)
9. Darius Milhaud
– 4 Visages for Viola and Piano, Op. 238
– Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano, Op. 240 (1941)
– Sonata No. 2 for Viola and Piano, Op. 244 (1944)
10. J.S. Bach
– Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903 (transcribed for Viola)
-6 Suites for Viola Solo (transcribed from Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012)
– Partitas and Sonatas for Solo Viola (transcribed from Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001–1006)
11. Rebecca Clarke
– Morpheus for Viola and Piano
– Viola Sonata (1919)
12. Michael Glinka
– Viola Sonata in D minor
13. Alexander Glazunov
– Elegy for Viola and Piano, Op. 44
14. Dmitri Shostakovich
– 24 Preludes for Viola (arranged from Piano Preludes, Op. 34)
– Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 (1975)
15. Karl Stamitz
– Viola Concertos
– Viola Sonatas
16. Franz Schubert
– Arpeggione Sonata in A minor, D. 821 (transcribed for Viola)
17. György Ligeti
– Sonata for Solo Viola (1991–94)
18. Bohuslav Martinů
– Sonata for Viola and Piano (1955)
– Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1952)
19. Erwin Schulhoff
– Hot-Sonata for Viola and Piano
20. Ernst Krenek
– Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 92
21. Jeno Hubay
– Maggiolata for Viola and Piano, Op. 19
22. Igor Stravinsky
– Élégie for Solo Viola (1944)
23. Johann Nepomuk Hummel
– Fantasia for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 94
24. Sergei Prokofiev
– Romeo and Juliet (excerpts arranged for Viola and Piano)
25. Max Reger
– Sonatas in A♭ Major and F♯ Minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 49 Nos. 1 and 2 (1900)
– Sonata in B♭ Major for Viola and Piano, Op. 107 (1908–09)
26. Felix Mendelssohn
– Viola Sonata in C Minor, MWV Q14
27. Henri Vieuxtemps
– Sonata in B♭ Major for Viola and Piano, Op. 36 (1862)
– Capriccio in C Minor for Solo Viola, Op. 55
28. Henri Vieuxtemps
– Élégie in F Minor for Viola (or Cello) and Piano, Op. 30
– Étude in C Minor for Viola Solo
29. Márton Kerekfy
– Viola Sonata for Viola and Piano
Recordings
