Her artistic career has included solo and accompanying performances across Cyprus and Türkiye, as well as an appearance as piano soloist with the TRNC Presidential Symphony Orchestra. Alongside performance, Amcazade has increasingly focused on the preservation and reinterpretation of Cypriot music. Her master’s and doctoral research explore how Cypriot songs can be arranged for piano and integrated into music education, creating a bridge between cultural memory and contemporary teaching practice.
Today, while continuing her doctoral studies at Near East University, she teaches piano to undergraduate students and coordinates performances that bring Cypriot music to new audiences. Through the University’s ‘Play for Health’ project, she also performs regularly at Near East University Hospital, taking music beyond the concert hall and into everyday spaces of human experience.
“I cannot explain where I am today through talent alone; it has been shaped by early interest, disciplined work, the right guidance, and the support of my family and teachers.”
You began meeting audiences through concerts and different music projects at a young age. Who or what experiences have inspired you along the way? How do you see the roles of talent, regular practice, and the support you received in the achievements you have reached so far?
I believe that starting to play the piano at an early age has played a very important role in where I am today. In fact, my interest in music began even before I started piano lessons. Ever since I was a child, the music I heard on the radio or television always caught my attention. I think my family first noticed this interest because I would start dancing whenever I heard music.
One day, when I told my family, “I want to play a musical instrument,” they did not treat it as a passing childhood wish. They took it seriously and arranged for me to begin piano lessons soon afterwards. Looking back now, I consider that support one of the most important turning points in my life. My family has always been my strongest source of support throughout my musical journey.
I also feel very fortunate to have met music teachers who genuinely loved what they did. From them, I learned not only how to play the piano, but also how to approach music, how to be patient, and why consistent work matters.
Playing the piano became integrated into my life.
For that reason, I cannot explain where I am today through talent alone. I see it as a long journey shaped by an interest that began early, regular practice, the right guidance and, most importantly, the support of my family and teachers.
As a pianist pursuing a doctorate in Music Education at Near East University, what is the focus of your research? How do your academic studies influence your performance practice and your approach to music education?
I believe this work also contributes directly to my identity as a pianist. Our traditional music has been passed down orally from one generation to another for many years. In some cases, I first come to know a piece without notation, in the form in which I have heard and learned it, and then interpret it on the piano. This allows me to connect more closely not only with the melody, but also with the emotion carried by the piece.
When I interpret our songs more freely and instrumentally on the piano, I feel that I can experience the emotion and narrative behind the music more intensely. For me, therefore, my academic work is not limited to conducting research; it is also a process that enriches the way I listen to, understand and interpret music as a pianist.
“My academic work is not limited to research; it also enriches the way I listen to, understand and interpret music as a pianist.”
You coordinated the Cypriot Music Piano Concert at Near East University. What does bringing Cyprus’s musical heritage into piano education mean to you? What did you observe in the students’ experiences while working with this repertoire?
Teaching Cypriot music to piano students at different levels and transforming these works into a concert repertoire was a very enjoyable and meaningful process for me. Bringing Cyprus’s musical heritage into piano education is also important because it allows students to build a connection between the piano and music from their own culture.
Because piano is a compulsory course in the music teacher education programme, and students are also trained in many areas beyond the piano, it was especially meaningful for me to see some students who considered themselves less confident at the piano become more self-assured while working with this repertoire. Being able to play music from their own culture on the piano strengthened their feeling of, “I can do this too.”
For that reason, the process meant more to me than simply preparing for a concert. It became a way of keeping Cypriot music alive through education and bringing it back together with students. Seeing that the students enjoyed the process both musically and personally was also a very rewarding experience.
“Being able to play music from their own culture on the piano strengthened the students’ feeling of, ‘I can do this too.’”
Through the ‘Play for Health’ project, you brought piano music to listeners in a hospital setting. How was this experience different from performing in a concert hall? Is there a moment in your interaction with listeners that particularly stayed with you?
When you perform in a concert, you step onto the stage with the excitement of knowing that there will be an audience. People come specifically to listen to a repertoire that has been planned and prepared for that occasion. Performing in a hospital lobby is quite different. There may be people rushing to make it to a doctor’s appointment, relatives coming out of surgery after receiving good news, or families who have just received difficult news.
For that reason, while performing a piece, you may find yourself affected by the activity and emotional atmosphere around you and may need to shape your repertoire spontaneously according to the mood of the space. On a concert stage, the dialogue is mainly between the pianist and the piano. In a hospital setting, a different kind of interaction can emerge between the pianist, the piano and the people passing by – even through something as simple as eye contact. Being able to see people’s reactions to the music in that very moment is what makes the experience so special for me.
There is one moment that particularly affected me. One day, after I had finished my hospital piano programme, two people came over to speak with me. They told me that their father was undergoing a very serious operation and that they were praying for his recovery during the long and critical hours ahead. They asked me to play a classical piece that I had never worked on before and that had actually been written for guitar. I did not even know their names, but I could feel how intense the emotions they were experiencing were, and I could not ignore their request. I found the score online at that moment and played it for them. While performing the piece, I tried to empathise with the anxiety, hope and waiting they were experiencing. I think the emotions I felt in that moment gave the piece an entirely different meaning for me as well.
That experience reminded me once again that music is not only an art performed on a stage. Sometimes it can accompany someone through one of the most difficult moments of their life and become a powerful means of communication that shares and carries emotion.
“Music is not only an art performed on a stage; sometimes it can accompany someone through one of the most difficult moments of their life.”
Looking ahead, what artistic or educational project would you most like to bring to life? What kind of lasting impact do you hope this work will have on people’s lives?
Turning my doctoral thesis into a book and publishing my own piano book is one of the projects I most want to realise in the coming period. I would like the work to go beyond remaining an academic thesis and to reach a wider audience by bringing Cypriot music into the piano repertoire.
For me, the most meaningful outcome would be to help a student learn these works, to see a pianist add a piece of Cypriot music to their repertoire, or to introduce our music to someone who has never encountered it before.
About Deniz Amcazade
Over the years, Amcazade has performed as a répétiteur and solo pianist in concerts, festivals and official events across Cyprus and Türkiye. In 2022, she appeared as piano soloist with the TRNC Presidential Symphony Orchestra, performing the premiere of the first movement of Çağdaş Üstüntaş’s Piano Concerto. The same year, she completed her master’s degree in Music Education at Near East University with a 4.00 GPA and high honours, with a thesis focusing on piano accompaniments for Cypriot songs used in school education.
Since 2022, she has been pursuing her doctoral studies in Music Education at Near East University under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Kıvanç Öztuğ. Her current research focuses on Cypriot music arranged as piano works. In 2025, she contributed to the Presidential Cultural Publications series ‘Cyprus Turkish Folk Music Culture’, including her own piano arrangements. Alongside her academic work, she teaches piano at Near East University and takes an active role in projects including the Cypriot Music Piano Concerts and ‘Play for Health’.