About
“Music is so versatile that it is possible to evoke a vast variety of emotions in people. It can carry people into a zone where they forget about the bad things that might be happening in their lives.”
Korkmaz Can Sağlam’s musical journey started with his parents, both non-classical musicians—his father a guitarist in a blues/rock band and his mother a keyboardist in Ankara. His grandparents and aunt loved classical music and took him to concerts when he was a child, and his lessons began because of a newspaper listing his father saw for Bilkent University's Music Preparatory Primary School. He studied there with Gamze Kırtıl from age 7 to 18. As a teenager, he spent hours on YouTube listening to recordings, and one—Sergei Babayan playing Scarlatti—made a particular impression on him. So it was intensely special when Can came to the United States to study with him and 2001 Cliburn Silver Medalist Antonio Pompa-Baldi. He now holds a bachelor’s from The Juilliard School and master’s from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has now come to Dallas to pursue an artist diploma with Babayan at the SMU Meadows School of the Arts. Grand-prize winner of the 2021–2022 Vendome Prize for Piano, he’s also recently taken home awards at the Sydney and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions.
Can has performed in concert halls such as Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Morgan Library & Museum’s Gilder Lehrman Hall in New York, Wiener Saal in Salzburg, Melbourne Recital Centre, and in other venues in Paris, Nice, Brussels, Cleveland, Verona, Sydney, and Istanbul. His first studio album, featuring works by Handel, Rachmaninov, and Oğuz, was released by the Sono Luminus label in March 2024. One of his future aspirations is to start his own music festival that would bring the musicians he’s met during his studies to perform and teach in his home country. “As musicians we all need to help each other if we want to stay with music in our lives and help classical music stay alive and heard around the world.”