2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition winner and recording artist Celil Refik Kaya has received accolades for his myriad accomplishments at an early age.
Mr. Kaya was born in Kadikoy, Istanbul in 1991. Because of his great passion for music, at the age of six he began classical guitar studies with his father Dr. Mehmet Refik Kaya and later with Yusuf Doğan Büyüköğüt. Throughout his career, Mr. Kaya also studied advanced interpretation with Raffi Arslanyan and gave his first concert in the Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul when he was six years old. Celil went on to perform for numerous live television and radio programs in Turkey.
Celil Refik Kaya was a 2012 GFA (Guitar Foundation of America) International Concert Artist Competition prizewinner and a finalist for the 2012 Concert Artist Guild. Additionally, Celil was top prizewinner in numerous international competitions including the 2012 Pearl and Julius Rising Young Stars Music Competition, 2012 Queens Symphony Young Soloist Competition, 2012 Louisville Guitar Competition, 2011 Columbus State University Guitar Competition and Symposium, 2009 Sofia Bulgaria Young Virtuosos Competition, 2008 Naxos 30th International Classical Guitar Competion, 2008 Istanbul Pera Guitar Festival and Competition and 2004 Forum Gitarre Wien.
Mr. Kaya has attended numerous masterclasses by David Russell, Tilman Hoppstock, Thomas Muller Pering, Hubert Kappell, Gerald Garcia, Costas Cotsiolis, Tadashi Sasaki, Roland Dyens.
Mr. Kaya has presented the New York premiere of Roberto Sierra’s “Folias” with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the World Premiere of both Derwyn Holder’s Guitar Concerto with the New Jersey Baroque Orchestra and Turkish composer Suleyman Alnitemiz’s Guitar Concerto with Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra . Celil was soloist with many other symphony orchestras including the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.
"The clean precision of Kaya’s playing, against the rushing sea of the orchestra, was spectacular and beautiful. It was a privilege to have been there." - Sheila Abrahams, NJArtsMaven.com
In 2011, Celil graduated from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory with the Highest Honor Degree and ranked first in the entire conservatory that year. While at Mimar Sinan, he studied guitar with Soner Egesel, chamber music with Vieri Bottazzini and composition with Mehmet Nemutlu. While attending the Mimar Sinan Conservatory Celil was granted the “Excellence” Scholarship from the Turkish Foundation of Education.
“Young genius of the guitar” - J. Zenamon, Composer
Currently a scholarship student of Michael Newman (the disciple of Andrés Segovia’s students Oscar Ghiglia and Albert Valdes Blain) in the Graduate Program at Mannes College The New School For Music in New York City and studies privately with multiple grammy award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin.
Celil Refik Kaya is poised to lead his generation as an artist in the tradition of his masters.
In 2013, Celil performed his Carnegie Hall debut as a featured artist in the D'Addario Founation Concert Series, the Round Top Music Festival in Texas, Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina and the Nevada County Guitar Festival in California. Mr. Kaya also performed as a solist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Brevard Symphony, Lake Placid Symphony and Bilkent Symphony.