Pınar Başgöze has been a piano instructor at MacPhail since 2007. A dedicated teacher, solo and chamber music performer, Pınar is a firm, to the point, but extremely caring teacher who has 30 years of teaching experience.
Her goal is to establish a solid musical foundation in her students’ lives, creating a love for music-making that her students can take with them regardless of their age and what they choose to be in their future. She tailors her lessons and sets up goals for her students within their abilities, and encourages them to involve their minds, ears, and heart in the learning process. Pınar teaches traditional classical piano, strongly enhanced with note reading, technique, ear training, listening, music theory, and various repertoire pieces, including classical, jazz, blues, and rag.
A native of Ankara, Turkey, Pınar received her B. A. and M. A. degrees in piano performance under the tutelage of Professor Banu Perk at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory in Turkey, studied Piano Pedagogy and Performance with Professor Maria Curcio in London and piano performance with Dr. Paul Shaw at the University of Minnesota School of Music.
She is a member of Duo Harmonia, formerly known as Başgöze-Pinto Piano Duo, founded in 2008 with pianist and a MacPhail Faculty Susana Pinto. Their duo received 2018 MacPhail Artist Development Grant, funded by The McKnight Foundation, to record their first CD, Harmonia. Pianist Pınar Başgöze recently received the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant FY 2020 for commissioning pieces for piano duet and narrator composed by three different composers from three different countries, based on Minnesotan, Portuguese, and Turkish folk tales. Pınar is a full-time piano faculty member at MacPhail Center for Music, married to Jon Iverson, also a member of MacPhail Piano Faculty, and skillfully managing a life filled with teaching piano, performing, and raising her family.
Favorite non-musical hobby: Writing-mainly poems, cooking-mainly Turkish cuisine, and baking-banana muffins and baklava are the specials.
