Internationally-acclaimed Turkish classical pianist Gulsin Onay took to the stage Wednesday at New York's Times Center in a charity recital for the victims from an earthquake that hit Turkey's eastern province of Elazig.
Onay, in her first appearance in New York in over two years, played selected works by Beethoven, Bartok and Chopin and she received a long standing ovation from the audience. "It was full of emotion and a big happiness for me to play here for the quake-hit people of Elazig," Onay told reporters after the recital.
The event was organized by American-Turkish Women's Association. Turkey's Consul General in New York Mehmet Samsar was among the the audience.

Onay started taking piano lessons at the age of three and she gave her first concert when she was six. Onay graduated from Paris Conservatory at the age of 16 with Premier Prix du Piano.

Onay took prizes in leading competitions, including the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Piano Competition (Paris) and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition (Bolzano).

Since then she has played in the musical centres of over 55 countries in a career spanning all continents.

NEW YORK (A.A) - Özlem Şahin Şakar