This sponsored article is part of a paid partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music.
Philadelphia-based composer Delfin Demiray brings a wealth of experience to her nascent career and is carving out a niche of her own in the modern music landscape. In her youth, Demiray studied piano at the Bilkent Music Pre-College program in Turkey and later began composition studies with Yiğit Aydın. But her experience in the arts extends beyond the typical conservatory fare: Demiray has also studied drama, run a locally acclaimed newsletter for photography and film, and shown conceptual art at various exhibitions.
As a second-year student at the Curtis Institute, Demiray works with their renowned composition faculty which includes Nick DiBerardino, Amy Beth Kirsten, Steven Mackey, Jonathan Bailey Holland, and Richard Danielpour. Recently, Demiray’s work Matem for string quartet was premiered at the Curtis Institute’s Composers’ Chamber Music Recital. The opening violin solo features a stirring, questioning motif which – surrounded by ample space – resembles an unanswered plea. However, as the rest of the quartet joins in, the music coalesces into a warmer, fuller soundworld replete with sultry glissandi and luscious, Romantic harmonies.
In her artist statement, Demiray considers the confluence of ideas that underscore her work, such as change vs. routine, rationality vs. instinct, and steadfastness vs. adaptability. And in the concert hall, Demiray’s deeply felt and intellectually driven compositional philosophy is evident in her music, which captivates both ears and minds alike. To shed light on this early-career composer, we asked five questions about the development and philosophy behind her work.
You first studied piano and later came to composition. What initially inspired you to create music of your own, and what was it like first getting started?
I did start by studying piano! This was an immense sneak peek into what an artist is capable of doing, and a great checkpoint for me to understand the inner thoughts of a creator. Although I am thankful for my many years of experience as a performer, I was driven a lot more by composing. I liked the idea that there’s not so much unnecessary competition because everything is a lot more subjective. This also means that every new idea that is created in a community, no matter if it’s judged ‘good’ or ‘bad’, could make an impact. The engagement a composer has with this much freedom was truly my calling.
The first type of creation that struck my interest works was not music but was conceptual art, visual arts, cinema, theatre, etc… I had an opportunity to showcase an installation in my high school, and I took the chance and created the work Heartbeat Waltz which showcased the actual heart of a cow hidden in a drawer of a nightstand, with a sound installation that had two heartbeat sounds that eventually created a valse-like rhythm.
Combining the provided tools of art into our community and creating a Dada version of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ excited me deeply. I was a big fan of extremist artists like Vito Acconci, Chris Burden, and John Cage; and I thought to myself, to understand the depths and layers of people’s lives, I would love to learn more about the tools that can help me get there. I was already educated in music, but I never came to make my own up until my senior year of high school. It was unbearably easy starting at first because I loved doing it, and I can say that it only gets easier to write more music every day.
You have experience in many different artistic mediums such as conceptual art, drama, and even writing. How has your diverse artistic background influenced your composition?
I could say for myself, that first taking up conceptualism, and going all the way to contrapuntal music writing, was an absurd path to follow, but I could say that this helped to develop a perceptually diverse outlook on life and made it a little bit more comfortable to consider the different circumstances, and how they engage with an artwork. Every human being has a soft spot, a culture, an unchangeable faith. For me and possibly for my fellow musicians, that culture is music. It defines the way we perceive life, whether we like it or not.
Makes me wonder; when one draws the line between populist globalized music and the classical canon, it feels like the term timeless music or art doesn’t exist anymore, and we end up holding grudges, loving, and criticizing each other but don’t see the big picture. What we have against or within the artist community is all going to one day cause another bloom of an era. That’s why I stand my case with perceiving the truth as temporary. Arts motors run with the interaction of different disciplines, with the friction of ideologies and subjectivity of the truth. Therefore I view every art form as a necessity for me.
For that one day, I believe that we will be exploring new dynamics like odors, tastes, and touch through art. I also know that even though my ideologies will change, it’s easy and practical to embrace the change as an ideology itself. Things like journaling, cinema, philosophy, and conceptualism, make room for creation. But, who knows, one day these definitions might stop making sense for new audiences and we might get to see an interdisciplinary blend of all of these concepts.
Can you tell us about what inspired your work Matem for string quartet?
I’d love to. Matem was my first ‘serious’ work, I could say. This piece came from a very personal place; I first started writing this piece on my flight to the States for the first time, and I curated the piece around the idea of a requiem for the life I had before.
The title means ‘mourning’, and the strings in this piece most of the time represent a sung cry and weep, representing my deep feelings about being away from home for the first time, and learning to walk on my own feet. I was very inspired by Turkish folk music and incorporated elements like modality, the ‘drone’ (seen in Bartok’s works often), and the extreme importance of melodic writing.
In your artist statement, you reckon with tensions that arise between concepts such as “rationality” and “instinct.” How does your artistic philosophy factor into your process and work?
I’d love to talk about that. My artistic standpoint through the years has been in a constant state of change, and I think as a young artist it’s important to acknowledge that fact that there’s constant development, and our rationality is only temporary; whatever I choose to do, it will always be a part of a reality that art shouldn’t be completely stripped from cultural values. My first works were absolute pieces of music. Therefore now I am beginning to combine real-life issues and politically motivated concepts into my music. For example, in a recent work called “wreck.repair.repeat,” I used the statistics from the We Will Stop Femicides platform. The two sopranos are singing a duet about the statistics of the women in Turkey murdered by their fathers, brothers, and husbands.
I do believe that it’s important to disregard the grudges we tend to hold against how music should be, especially as a young composer. I aim to try all possible styles and perspectives, and it’s very beautiful to discover a piece of music that’s been in the unconscious mind, letting the music write itself.
What is next on the horizon for you?
This season, I’m very excited to hear the premiere of my new piece An Absurd Image for Orchestra performed by Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky. Apart from that, I’m working on a solo oboe piece for Curtis’s Oboe auditions for the 2025/26 school year and a solo marimba commission through the Cortona Sessions Contemporary Performance Competition. I am also looking forward to the premiere of a trumpet and electronics piece to be performed at Curtis.
I believe it is every artist’s dream to explore every string of creation comprehensively, and maybe one day find a form of art that will survive and inspire another generation of artists. It is also my dream to one day be able to achieve that. I am very new to my composing career, but one day I hope to be able to master the art of Western composition and combine it with different qualities such as media art, public installations, and artificial intelligence. The future beholds many new waves for art, and it’s always best to be able to discover it through different concepts.
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