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Meltem Ege

Jazz musician and educator

About Me

Born in Syracuse NY, Meltem Ege spent her first ten years in the United States before she moved to her homeland Turkey with her family. After three years in a junior high school, her growing success in her private piano lessons led to her starting a preparatory high school for the Bilkent University Conservatory. She was later accepted into the conservatory, where she received a degree in classical piano. During her studies, she experimented with singing as a hobby with several bands and styles, and discovered that singing was her true calling. After her graduation she entered the Nardis Jazz Voice Competition in Istanbul, Turkey, where she won first place, and was chosen to represent her country in the 2007 Lady Summertime Jazz Competition in Finland. She won first place in the Lady Summertime Competition against 17 other countries with a unanimous vote from all of the judges and was invited to compete in the 2008 Jazz Voices Competition in Lithuania, where she also won first place. In 2007, she was accepted into Berklee College of Music on a merit-based scholarship and completed the four-year program in a mere three years. At Berklee College of Music, she has worked with names like Rhiannon, Joey Blake, Bob Stoldoff, Lisa Thorson, Steve Santoro, Alison Wedding, and many more. She was elected “Student Ambassador”, a prestigious title, by the College and was sent to Canada to represent the student body on the Auditions and Interviews World Tour. In 2009 she won second place in the Songs for Social Change Songwriting Competition, and in 2010, she was awarded the Voice Department Achievement Award by the Faculty, Chair and Dean based on her “outstanding achievement in her major and her contributions to the department.” She graduated from Berklee College of Music in May 2010 with a degree in Vocal Performance as a summa cum laude student with a 3.9 GPA. She now lives in Turkey and continues performing in several national and international festivals. Her first duo album was released in June 2012 under the title “Songbook” along side Önder Focan, an established international jazz musician. She has been teaching jazz vocal classes in the Başkent University Conservatory in Ankara since 2010 and as of 2012 has been appointed chair of the Contemporary Singing Department.