The violinist Tuncay Yılmaz, born in Izmir, is a representative of Andre Gertler's violin school. He began his training in his hometown, later continued it at the Ankara State Conservatory and graduated first in his class. While still a student, he made his debut as a soloist with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra with the Turkish premiere of Hindemith's Violin Concerto, and gave his ...
The violinist Tuncay Yılmaz, born in Izmir, is a representative of Andre Gertler's violin school. He began his training in his hometown, later continued it at the Ankara State Conservatory and graduated first in his class. While still a student, he made his debut as a soloist with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra with the Turkish premiere of Hindemith's Violin Concerto, and gave his first recital with Fazil Say. As a DAAD scholarship holder, he completed his studies at the Freiburg and Saarbrücken music academies with distinction. Since being appointed State Soloist by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey in 1996, Tuncay Yılmaz has performed with many major orchestras, including the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Franz Lizst Chamber Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the entire State Symphony Orchestras of Turkey. His repertoire includes major concertos such as those by Bartók, Brahms, Beethoven, Berg, Erkin, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Wieniawski and Mozart.
In addition to his solo work, Tuncay Yilmaz plays in the Arkas Trio and has performed frequently with well-known musicians such as Idil Biret, Emre Elivar, Gustav Rivinius, Alexander Rudin, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Jiri Barta, Ludmil Angelov, Wolfram Schmitt Leonardy and Tedi Papavrami. With his regular pianist Robert Markham, he has performed in venues and concert halls all over the world, including Ankara, Berlin, Istanbul, Monte Carlo (Salle Garnier), Frankfurt, London, Cologne, Abu Dhabi, Valencia, Toledo, Boston, Chicago and New York (Carnegie Hall).
His first CD with the sonatas of Franck and Elgar was recorded in New York and released in 1999. The second CD, "Mozart 2006", was a live recording of a performance under Rudin on the occasion of the celebrations for Mozart's 250th birthday. The most recent release to date was a CD with the pianist Robert Markham entitled "Rosepage".
During his education, Tuncay Yılmaz was taught by renowned professors such as Nicolai, Eralp, Marschner and Epstein. He received awards at the Louis Spohr Competition for his Schumann interpretation and the Mozart Special Prize from Saarland University. He was also a finalist at both the Tibor Varga Competition in Switzerland and the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin.
As a state soloist, Yılmaz has dedicated himself for years to training young violinists at the state and private conservatories in Turkey. In addition, he initiated the International Violin Master Classes of the Izmir Foundation for Culture, Art and Education.
Tuncay Yılmaz plays on a Petrus Paulus Devitor "Red Diamond" Venice violin from 1731.