After graduation, she began performing as a piano soloist with orchestras and giving piano recitals on the East Coast, a highlight being several special concerts at MIT and Harvard University. She was elected to the board of the Turkish American Society of Boston and became active in the group. When her husband, Robert Underhill, accepted a position as Professor of Linguistics at San Diego State University, they moved to California. She continued her concertizing and began her own piano studio in Del Mar. Her own piano recitals were suspended because of an arm injury, and she returned to her vocal training. Within a few years, she was as much in demand for her vocal recitals as she had been for her piano concerts. Meanwhile, in curing her arm injury, she became a specialist in helping other pianists overcome injuries and fatigue.
From the very beginning of her professional career, one theme has dominated her concerts and her teaching: One World, One People. Her musical programs always introduce music from unknown Turkish composers. In her piano studio, she teaches piano technique, interpretation, and music theory, and she requires all her students to attend extra classes where through art slides and lectures, she instructs them about the composer’s life and the history of the period in which the piece was written. She has taught more than one thousand students from many different ethnic backgrounds. Through interaction in these classes, the children learn to appreciate and respect cultures that differ from their own. Her students win top prizes in competitions, and many have been accepted in prestigious universities.