Ayla began studying piano and violin at the age of three, making her orchestral solo debut at six with the Tucson Civic Orchestra performing Berkovich’s Piano Concerto. The following year, she performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and with the Tucson Repertory Orchestra during their tour in Japan. In 2022, at age ten, she performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra, followed in 2023 by Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Orquestra do Algarve in Portugal under Maestro Maurizio Colasanti.
Ayla has participated in numerous prestigious music festivals, including the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Seminar, the Chopin Festival in Poland, the Philadelphia International Music Festival, Heifetz PEG, Colburn Piano Seminar, Sima Classics in Poland, and the Piano Concerto Festival, studying with distinguished teachers and performing in orchestral and recital settings. She also enjoys performing at the annual Tucson Folk Festival.
Ayla has won awards in national and international competitions, including the Chopin International Piano Competition (Hartford, CT), the Young Artists’ Competition by the Civic Orchestra of Tucson, the Dorothy Vanek Youth Concerto Competition (Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra), the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, the WPTO Spain International Piano Competition, the Sound Espressivo Competition, the Frantz Liszt Center International Piano Competition, and the Charleston International Music Competition, among others. She is an active member of the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra and studies piano with Dr. Kyungsun Choi and violin with Dr. Laura Tagawa. Outside of music, Ayla enjoys playing chess and taking dance classes.
