Dr. Payam Susanni-Assistant Prof.​Yaşar University

​Born in Izmir, Turkey, Assistant Professor Payam Susanni earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Izmir State Conservatory. She completed her Master of Music degree at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, and pursued her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Yasar University Arts and Design Faculty School of Music in Izmir, Turkey, where her thesis focused on “Fostering Entrepreneurship for Music Education: How to design effective curricula.”
As a performer, she has given numerous solo, duo, and chamber music concerts across the United States, Europe, and Turkey. From 2000 to 2008, she taught Piano and Chamber Music at the Clavier Werke School of Music in Austin, TX, USA, where she also organized and judged many music festivals and competitions.
In 2008, Dr. Susanni continued her teaching career at Yasar University Arts and Design Faculty School of Music in Izmir, Turkey, where she became an Assistant Professor and later served as Vice Dean of the Arts and Design Faculty. She is the Artistic Director of the Yasar University Continuous Education Center Music Academy. Her students have excelled in numerous prestigious national and international competitions and festivals.
As the International Relations Coordinator of the Music Department, she engages in many international European-funded music and multidisciplinary conferences and projects, organizing international music festivals, masterclasses, and concerts. Dr. Susanni also co-wrote and coordinates the Strategic Partnership project “OMEGA” (Opening More Employability Gates for Arts and Music Students), which is available to music students at Yasar University and internationally online.
She has been actively involved as a member of the International Relations Coordinator Working Group and the Entrepreneurship Working Group for the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC). Her coordination and membership roles in various European projects, mainly in the fields of Music and Entrepreneurship, include the AEC – SMS Project on Entrepreneurship mindset for musicians, the News in Map Project for Leadership and Music, the MUSENSE Project (Music Higher Education Meets the Cyber Dimension), and the Capacity Building Project VIETMUS (VIETnam Music Universities Spurring). These projects have helped her gain a broad perspective on music education, emphasizing an entrepreneurial and digital mindset.