Talented harpist Ela Talay, who developed a passion for music after watching an animated film at a young age, has achieved international success and earned the opportunity to receive music education at a conservatory affiliated with the Royal Music Schools in England. Living in the Güzelbahçe district of Izmir, Talay, who discovered her love for singing at the age of 4, joined a choir in Bodrum upon her family’s encouragement. As she sang in the choir, Talay’s music passion eventually transformed into a passion for the harp after watching an animated film. With her passion and musical development, Talay has achieved success in this field by winning first place at the “12th World Online Music Competition” and “CAKA Online Music Competition” in previous years, as well as achieving second place in the International Slovenia Harp Society Competition and the 1st International Arpademia Celtic Harp Competition. Recently, Talay claimed first prize in the “Lily Laskine Games Harp Triathlon” competition at the Harp Festival in Hong Kong in October 2024. Following her success in the entrance examination, Ela Talay has secured a place for music education at the Royal Northern College of Music, a conservatory affiliated with the Royal Music Schools, located in Manchester, England. Starting to play the harp, Ela Talay explained to the AA correspondent that she decided to play the harp after being influenced by a scene from a movie she watched when she was 4 or 5 years old. Describing a scene where a cat plays the harp in the movie “Aristocats,” Talay explained, “In one scene of the Aristocats movie, a cat was playing the harp. I was very fond of cats, so I was very impressed by this movie. When the magnificent harp appeared in that scene, I was fascinated as a little child and decided to play the harp.” Talay mentioned that she moved to Izmir with her family to continue her music education more comprehensively, starting her harp education as a student at Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatory, and piano and vocal training at Arkas Science and Art Center. Expressing her excitement about the new phase in her musical education, Talay stated, “I have always wanted to continue my music education abroad. Winning this examination enabled me to achieve my goal. I will be in Manchester for the next four years and will have the opportunity to work with a very valuable harp artist, Anne-Marie O’Farrell. I want to promote my music both domestically and internationally, and make a difference. Therefore, being able to receive such education is very valuable to me.” Talay emphasized the significant role of disciplined work in her success, stating that she works diligently every day with great determination. Talay expressed her desire to include both Classical Western music and Turkish music in her repertoire, stating, “I want to develop and advance myself as much as possible in both fields. I transcribe many pieces from Şirin Pancaroğlu’s Turkish Harp Note Collection project, these works have been very beneficial in my journey of learning Turkish music.”