Darmstadt composer presents her completed work on 25 September
Darmstadt. Pianist and composer Cagla Gürsoy from Bessungen will premiere her violin sonata at the Theater Moller Haus on Thursday, September 25, 2025. Gürsoy composed two movements of the work at the age of 18. Twelve years later, she now completes the cycle with a movement for solo violin and a rondo for violin and piano.
The Ankara-born musician began her piano studies at just eleven years old, and composition studies followed at 14. At 19, she transferred to the Darmstadt Academy of Music, and later her path led her to Paris to study with Prof. Jean-Marie Cottet.
CONCERT program at a glance
In addition to the premiere of Gürsoy’s violin sonata, other works will be on the program:
- Ursula Mamlok (1923–2013): Suite for Piano
- Çağla Gürsoy (*1994): Sonata for Violin and Piano (world premiere)
- Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975): Sonata for Violin and Piano op. 134
- Sergej Rachmaninoff (1873–1943): Vocalise op. 34/14
The performers are the composer herself on the piano and violinist Elena Martinez-Eisenberg. They perform together as Duo Passio , founded in 2022 and funded by the German Music Council NEUSTART Kultur
Duo Passio with social commitment
Since its founding, the duo has established a firm place in Darmstadt's musical scene. In addition to performances at the "Klassik meets Jazzkeller" festival in Bessungen and the Dieburg Castle Concerts, Gürsoy and Martinez-Eisenberg have performed numerous benefit concerts, for example, in aid of Ukraine (2022) and for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria (2023). The duo also provided musical accompaniment for the Kesten Prize ceremony at the Darmstadt State Theater.
The current project is supported by the Baldur and Rose-Marie Schreiner Foundation, the HEAG Kulturfreunde, the Sparkasse Darmstadt, the Darmstadt Förderkreis Kultur, the Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Foundation (Berlin), the Freigärtnerloge Darmstadt and private individuals.
Featured image: Elena Martinez-Eisenberg and Çağla Gürsoy. Photo: Lena Urazaeva.
