Tolga Yayalar

Tolga Yayalar received a B.A. degree in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music in 2000, and a Ph.D. degree in composition from Harvard University, in 2010. Since then, he has been an assistant professor of music at Bilkent University where he teaches composition classes as well as courses related to music theory and electronic music. Yayalar’s musical output includes mostly chamber and orchestral music with and without electronics. His artistic focus centers around the idea of creating a sonic experience with a sound world which goes beyond stylistic conventions. His recent music puts different historical material into a foreign and unfamiliar context in which the meaning of musical material is completely transformed.

Tolga Yayalar’s music has been performed in the US, Europe and Latin America by ensembles and soloists such as Le Nouvel Ensemble Modern, Ensemble FA, Ying Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, OrchestrUtopica, The Callithumpian Consort, Hezarfen Ensemble, Platypus Ensemble, Earplay, Chamber Players of the League/ISCM, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Adorno Ensemble, Millennium Chamber Players, The CNM Ensemble, Yesaroun Duo, Samual Z. Solomon, Mari Kimura, Benjamin Schwartz, Seda Roeder and Garth Knox and at festivals such as BeethovenFest, Berliner Festspiele – MaerzMusik, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, ISCM World New Music Days, Acanthes, June in Buffalo, Mediterranean Contemporary Music Days and La Ciudad de las Ideas in Mexico. He is recipient of awards and honors such as Donald Aird Memorial prize, Adelbert Sprague composition prize, Blodgett String Quartet Composition prize, George Arthur Knight Prize, Millenium Chamber Players competition prize, and the League of Composers/ISCM composition award.