Turkish harpist Beste Toparlak started her music studies with pianist Yevgenia Tarasova in Almaty, Kazakhstan when she was 8. She was admitted to the Harp Department of Ankara State Conservatory of Hacettepe University in 1999. She worked with Bahar Goksu and Mujgan Aydin during her pre college and undergraduate studies and graduated in 2009 receiving high honors for her Bachelor of Music in Harp degree. She continued her graduate studies with former Vienna Philharmonic harpist and soloist Xavier de Maistre at Hochschule für Musik und Theater-Hamburg and graduated with a Masters Degree in 2013.
During her studies she attended master-classes and symposiums in United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands and worked with world renown harpists such as Alice Giles, Elinor Bennett, Sylvian Blassel, Hugh Webb, Skaila Kanga, Marisa Robles, Catherine Michel, Frédérique Cambreling, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Trina Bourne, Isabelle Moretti and Fabrice Pierre.
She performed many recitals in Turkey and abroad and amongst some of them had a chance to play for the Russian, Italian, British, Macedonian, Costa-Rican, Irish and Estonian heads of state. She also premiered works by composers Muhiddin Dürrüoğlu, Wolf Kerschek, Eda And, Matti Pakkanen and Xiao Fu.
Beste played under conductors such as Neeme Jarvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dimitrij Kitajenko, Simone Young and Alexander Liebreich in orchestras such as Bilkent Symphony Orchestra –where she worked as Principal Harp for 2 years, Hamburg Staats Oper, NDR Symphony Orchestra, RIAS Symphony Orchestra (Berlin), Philharmonie der Nationen (Hamburg), Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Hacettepe Symphony Orchestra, Eskisehir Symphony Orchestra, Greek-Turkish Youth Orchestra, Turkish-American Cultural Alliance Symphony Orchestra in venues such as Berlin Philarmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, Hamburg Laeizshalle, Hamburg Staats Oper, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Bremen ‘Die Glocke’, Munich-Gasteig Philharmonie, Kieler Schloss, Musik und Kongresshalle Lübeck, Konzerthaus Freiburg, Koblenz Kongresshalle, Wuppertal Stadthalle, Erfurt Alten Oper, Basel Stadt-Casino, Bregenz Festspielhaus.
Beste attended a program for “Young Talents” organized by NDR and got the chance to record a CD at the NDR studios in Hamburg. She accompanied the Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach Choir during their tour of Germany and also appeared as solo in their CD. She was also invited by the Hamburg Senate to perform a recital in the Hamburg Rathaus.
She played Reinhold Gliere’s Concerto for Harp as a starring soloist with Bilkent Symphony Orchestra as well as Eskisehir Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Isin Metin.
Beste held the position of Principal Harp for the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons.
She is winner of Matinee Musicale-Indianapolis Competition’s instrumental category at 2017 and Gold Medalist of Medallion International Artists Competition at 2018.
In May 2019, she graduated from the Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music’s Artist Diploma Program after studying with distinguished Professor Susann McDonald, Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Harpist Elizabeth Hainen, Professor Florence Sitruk and Professor Elzbieta Szmyt.
Currently she is based in Charlotte, NC and the substitute harpist of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and guest principal harpist of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. Beste continues her harp carrier performing in both solo and chamber ensembles on the East Coast U.S.
