Hailed by the Fanfare magazine as “… a reminder of the great classical music tradition in Turkey”, Jerfi Aji teaches piano and courses in music theory as a faculty member at ITU-MIAM. He also enjoys a versatile performance career as a soloist, sought-after chamber musician, and an advocate for new music.
Aji holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in textile engineering (ITU), and master’s degrees in piano performance (ITU-MIAM) and industrial engineering (Bosphorus University). Born in 1976 in Istanbul, Aji studied piano with Marian Hahn, Ayşegül Sarıca, Thomas Hecht, Zeynep Aksoy Eğilmez, Hülya Ardıç, and Ali Darmar. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras, and given solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Turkey and abroad. His chamber music collaborations include performances with James Buswell, Amit Peled, Carol Ou, Ellen Jewett, Michael Berkovsky, Yotam Baruch, Hüseyin Sermet and Cihat Aşkın. Aji is a member of Trio Kuvars Viyolet and the Istanbul Modern Music Ensemble. In 2011, Aji was recipient of the Frances M. Wentz Turner Memorial Prize in Piano presented by the Peabody Conservatory.
Aji’s debut album titled “Alexander Scriabin: Poems, Colours, Flames” was released in 2022 under the Italian Vermeer label, as a result of a Recording Prize win at the Sicily International Piano Competition in January 2019. For more information, please visit www.jerfiaji.com.