Tuncay Yılmaz

Tuncay Yılmaz was born in Izmir. He is a virtuoso known for his international success. He began his education in Izmir, and later studied with Candan Nicolai and Engin Eralp at Ankara State Conservatory. While Yılmaz was a student, he gave his first concert as a soloist, performing the Turkish premiere of Hindemith’s Violin Concerto with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. He was awarded a DAAD scholarship and continued his studies with Wolfgang Marschner in Freiburg and Joshua Epstein in Saarland, where he was accepted to the soloist class. Yılmaz graduated with the titles “Konsertist” and “Soloist”, the highest degrees awarded in Germany. During his time in Europe, Tuncay Yılmaz won the Best Schumann Performer award in the Louis Spohr Violin Competition and the Mozart Special prize with his performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto, No.5 in the 200th Mozart commemoration year. He was also the finalist in both the Tibor Varga Competition in Switzerland and the Berlin Mendelssohn Competition. Yılmaz has given numerous concerts together with well-known musicians such as Fazıl Say, Gustav Rivinius and Alexander Rudin. He is usually accompanied by his regular pianist Robert Markham. He has given recitals on countless occasions in locations and concert halls including Ankara, Berlin, Istanbul, Monte Carlo (Salle Garner), Frankfurt, London, Cologne, Abu Dhabi, Boston, Chicago and New York (Carnegie Hall). The major orchestras with which he has performed include Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Musical Viva Chamber Orchestra, Saarland Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony and the State Symphony Orchestras of Istanbul and Izmir. Yılmaz’s repertoire includes major concertos such as those of Bartok, Brahms, Beethoven, Berg, Erkin, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Wienawski and Mozart, as well as many sonatas for violin and piano. His first international CD, including the Franck and Elgar sonatas, was recorded in New York and released in 2001. His most recent CD, Mozart 2006 (recorded by Saatchi) has recently been released. Yılmaz, who has appeared on various radio and TV programs, was described as a “young prince of violinists” by Nice Matin in France, while the Boston Globe called him a “sophisticated solo violinist”. Most recently, his success at the International Toledo Music Festival, accompanied by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and in Valencia, was resounding and he has been invited to perform further concerts in Spain. He also performed the Brahms Double Concerto together with Gustav Rivinius, first prize winner in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition. Yılmaz performed as soloist in two concertos with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra at the opening of the 22nd Ankara Music Festival. In the Mozart anniversary year 2006, he was invited by Rudin to Moscow to perform for the first time, playing Mozart′s violin concerto. Tuncay Yılmaz, who continues his successful career in Turkey and Germany, has been a State Soloist of the Turkish Ministry of Culture since 1996.