Kicked out of the North Caucasus in the 1800s when the Russians violently took over and allegedly massacred scores of the ethnic group (which Russia denies), the Circassians fled en masse. 16 of Carnegie Hall, where he will be playing piano in January as part of a youth music competition.īefore Syria’s war, the Cimuk family frequently traveled to Turkey, where Tambi often played the accordion at festivals celebrating Circassians, the minority group to which his family belongs. Tambi Asaad Cimuk excitedly pulls up a photo on his phone on Dec. “There are so many people who want to be in my place right now.”īut Tambi also feels real pressure - it’s not every day the president tells you, “You have to work harder now,” as Erdogan told him during the phone call. “I’m a very lucky boy,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. After all, he explains, there are plenty of talented people out there.
Tambi says that despite the overwhelming support, he fears some people might not approve of his citizenship because he’s Syrian.
CHILD PIANO PRODIGY PLAYS CARNEGIE HALL FULL
With his new and unexpected stardom, Tambi says his Facebook inbox is full of messages from strangers - mostly Syrians, Turks and Circassians - saying how proud they are and congratulating him. Now Tambi will be spending part of next summer at the intensive international piano festival “Music Without Borders” in Bethel, Maine, where Poddubnaya serves as the artistic director. She was drawn to his dedication and what she says is “amazing potential.” One of Tambi’s teachers introduced him to Poddubnaya. Poddubnaya first met Tambi in May when she chaired a jury at a national music competition in Istanbul. “If he continues like this, he can become a serious musician,” she continued. “In 16 months, to come to this level - it’s absolutely unbelievable,” Tamara Poddubnaya, a Georgian pianist and piano teacher at the Long Island Conservatory of Music, told The WorldPost by phone from New York. But they aren’t the only ones who have eyes on Tambi’s future. While Avci says the Turkish government giving his student citizenship might just be a good PR stunt, it makes it no less life-altering for his student.Īvci and his colleagues have been Tambi’s biggest supporters, securing a full scholarship for him at a private Turkish high school and paying for his normally expensive piano lessons as soon as they realized his level of talent. He jests that he would have had to smuggle Tambi to Russia if he had not received Turkish citizenship. “I’m expecting a Rachmaninoff out of him,” said Rustem Avci, Tambi’s manager and the owner of Akademix, the private music school in Bursa where Tambi takes classes. Petersburg, Russia, where he attended a music contest on Dec. Teenage pianist Tambi Asaad Cimuk poses during an interview in St.
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What started as a series of peaceful protests against the Syrian regime in 2011 has delved into bloody civil war, uprooting millions and claiming the lives of over 200,000 people, according to some counts. He has little stomach for talk of the politics that divides the country he left behind. The war, now in its fourth year, is just too overwhelming. Tambi says he tries not to watch too much news about what’s happening in Syria. “Art shouldn’t have teams,” he said, sitting in his living room with his family. The teenager, who left everything behind in Syria when his family fled to Turkey two years ago, says he hopes his music will somehow help foster peace.
Less than two days later, Tambi boarded a flight to Russia to attend an international music competition alongside pianists who have been playing for over a decade. Tambi Asaad Cimuk plays the piano in a video uploaded to YouTube by Rustem Avci, Tambi’s manager.Įrdogan’s phone call came just in time. But Tambi’s Turkish teachers rallied together, heading a media campaign to call attention to what they say is extraordinary talent. Before then, it had been nearly impossible for him to use his Syrian papers to travel internationally for music competitions. 8, Tambi got a presidential phone call that changed his life. The Cimuk family had applied for the citizenship a month before, but the process is usually long, and rarely ends in success for refugees.īut on Dec. Most Syrian refugees in Turkey, who now number roughly 1.5 million, can’t even get a work permit. His teachers say he could be the next Rachmaninoff.ĭubbed a child prodigy by Turkish media, Tambi, now 16, made headlines earlier this month when Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally granted Turkish citizenship to the Cimuk family of four. Now, the shy Syrian refugee from Damascus is set to perform at Carnegie Hall next month. BURSA, Turkey - When 15-year-old Tambi Asaad Cimuk walked into a music store in this northwestern Turkish city last year, he had never played the piano before.
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