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Biography

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Described by music authorities as “an artist with a deep intellect of music and one of the major talents of today’s harp world”, Güneş Hızlılar was born in Istanbul in 1995. She began her musical education at Istanbul University State Conservatory in the harp class of Ümit Tunak. She then continued her studies in Austria, completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with highest distinction at the Salzburg Mozarteum University in the class of Prof. Stephen Fitzpatrick.

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Under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Güneş joined the Orchestra Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin, where she collaborated with distinguished artists such as Zubin Mehta, Martha Argerich, and Pinchas Zukerman between 2019 and 2022. During this period, she gained extensive experience in opera, symphonic repertoire, and chamber music, while receiving invaluable mentorship from the orchestra’s principal harpists, Stephen Fitzpatrick and Alexandra Clemenz. Immediately after completing the academy, she was invited to the Hannover Staatsoper, where she served as Assistant Solo Harpist in the 2022/2023 season. During this period, she also collaborated with ensembles such as Deutsche Oper Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Rostock Staatsorchester, Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, Salzburg Chamber Soloists and Ensemble Mini among others.

 

Hızlılar has won numerous prizes at international harp competitions: First Prize at the Marcel Tournier International Harp Competition in Italy and the Assia Cunego IHC in Germany; Second Prize at the Slovene International Harp Competition in Slovenia; Third Prize at the Josef-Reinl IHC in Austria; and Third Prize at the Martin Geliot IHC in France. In 2015 she appeared as soloist with the Istanbul University Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Ramiz Melik Aslanov. The same year she was invited to the Pacific Region Music Festival in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she served as principal harp. After becoming finalist at the Pacific Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerto competition, she performed Debussy’s Danse sacrée et profane under the baton of Arthur Arnold. She later appeared as soloist with the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Symphony Orchestra, performing Ginastera’s Harp Concerto under the baton of Ender Sakpınar during a youth concert. In 2017, she was invited as a soloist to the Taschenoper Festival in Salzburg, where she premiered Gerhard E. Winkler’s Mundbogenrelikte for solo harp and hip-hop choreography with the Austrian Contemporary Music Ensemble.

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In 2018 she gave a solo recital in İş Sanat’s Rising Stars concert series and was awarded the Meriç Soylu Honorary Prize. That same year she was selected for the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts’ “Young Women Stars of Tomorrow” project, performing at the 46th Istanbul Music Festival with Idil Biret, and was later invited back to the festival for a solo recital. In 2023, as part of the 51st Istanbul Music Festival, she performed at the Church of St. Stephen, where music critics described her as “a young yet fully formed artist with extraordinary charisma.”

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As a full member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, she toured Europe and South America in 2018, performing in prestigious venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper and Sala São Paulo with artists including Steven Isserlis and Jonathan Nott. With the Austrian Contemporary Music Ensemble she has taken part in numerous world premieres. She studied contemporary music with composer Simone Fontanelli, 18th-century repertoire with harpist Masumi Nagasawa, and early and baroque performance practice with baroque harpist Margrit Köll and lutenist Hans Brüderl. Supported by the Ceren Necipoğlu Scholarship of the Harp Art Association, she attended the Harp Masters Academy in Switzerland, working with Isabelle Perrin, Irina Zingg, Mara Galassi and Karen Vaughan. She also participated in masterclasses and private lessons with Isabelle Moretti, Xavier de Maistre, Alice Giles, Godelieve Schrama, Carl Swanson, Anne-Sophie Bertrand, Helga Storck, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Nancy Allen, Gwyneth Wentink, Susan Mcdonald, Ernestine Stopp and Jana Bousková among others.

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Throughout her studies she was supported by the Çağdaş Eğitim Vakfı’s Young Talents Project, the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Mozarteum University merit scholarships and Rotary International. In 2024, she returned to Istanbul, where she took up the harp position with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra. Balancing her career as both performer and educator, she also serves on the faculty of Maltepe University Conservatory as a harp instructor, while pursuing her PhD in Arts at Istanbul University State Conservatory.

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In collaboration with guitarist Tuna Tandoruk, Hızlılar founded the Stringscapes Harp and Guitar Duo, through which she shares a diverse repertoire in chamber concerts while continuing to perform solo recitals.

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September 2025