Turkish pianists forced to cancel US concert at last moment
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Internationally known Turkish pianists, Ferhan and Ferzan Onder, were unable to attend a concert they were supposed to perfom at when the US issued them a single visa, reportedly assuming that the twins were in fact one person. People who had bought tickets to the twins' concert had their money refunded when it was discovered that the twins could not attend.
The Onder twins, who live in Vienna, had been invited to the Deer Valley Music Festival. The sisters were supposed to fly on Monday to Utah to appear Wednesday at a special concert in Deer Valley. On Thursday evening, the twins were meant to give a piano concert at the Saint Mary Church in Park City.
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The Onder twins had arranged for their US visas through the US Embassy in Vienna, applying for and filling out forms there. When they realized that a visa only for Ferhan Onder was ready, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch got involved, sending a message to the US Embassy in Vienna that both twins were to be issued visas. Despite efforts by Senato Hatch however, the two twins were not, in the end, issued their visas.Â
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Later, it was learned that it was in fact due to the one letter difference between the names of "Ferhan" and "Ferzan" that the US Embassy had not issued visas to both twins. According to sources, though the mistake was understood at the last minute, there was not apparently enough time left to right the error.
The cancelled concert by the Onder sisters had been scheduled to feature music composed by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsokav, and Turkish composer and musician Fazil Say.
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