Elif Anastasia Çavdar Wins Two First Prizes at Rome Music Competition in Türkiye

An 11-year-old pianist from Gaziantep, Turkey, won first place in two categories at an international music competition in Rome, Italy, competing alongside her mother, who is also her teacher. Elif Anastasia Çavdar took the absolute first prize in the 10-13 age group at the 7th Danubia Talents Liszt International Music Competition, held July 13-17 in Rome. The award is given to competitors scoring 99-100 points.

She also placed first in the teacher-student category, where she performed with her mother, Renata Popovych Çavdar. Çavdar first became interested in the piano at age 6 while watching her Ukrainian mother's students. She began her piano training with her mother and has earned distinctions in numerous national and international competitions over roughly five years of musical education.

I started this journey with my mother and I will continue. I believe she will always be behind me. I may go to different schools and different countries, but my mother will always be behind me, Çavdar said, noting that performing on stage with her mother gave her great confidence. The competition took place in Rome, Italy, from July 13-17.