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​​​​BIOGRAPHY

Ceren Türkmenoğlu is a violinist and composer. She studied at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, and completed her master’s degree at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Boston. She is currently a doctoral researcher at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, Helsinki. 

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In addition to the violin, she performs on the rebab, bendir, and various instruments from different musical traditions. Her work brings together Western classical music with Anatolian and global traditions.

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She worked in Ankara State Opera and Ballet Orchestra and later in Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra. In Boston, she played with several ensembles, including the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. She collaborated with the Silk Road Ensemble, founded by Yo-Yo Ma, and appeared at events such as Harvard’s Arts First Festival.

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Her project “Music from Where the Sun Rises,” which explores Turkish music from a historical perspective, received two consecutive years of project support from The Boston Foundation and was performed at Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Through her project “Strings Around the World,” she examined musical cultures through their traditional bowed instruments and conducted research in the Republic of Tuva in 2018, later presenting her findings at ethnomusicology conferences in the US and the UK.

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As a composer, her works have been commissioned and performed across Europe. Her first album, Mâi, featuring original compositions and arrangements, was released in 2021. Her one-act ballet Köroğlu premiered at Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul in 2024 and was performed 11 times. Her chamber work Solstice was commissioned by the  Weltivale Music Festival and premiered in Flensburg in 2024. Solstice was later arranged for Bridges Kammerorchester for a performance at hr-Sendesaal in Frankfurt in 2025, recorded and broadcast by ARTE.​​​​

Ceren Turkmenoglu - violinist, composer, performer

Photo: Noyan Özatik

​Her string quartet Circle, commissioned by IKSV and TSKB , premiered at Süreyya Opera House as part of the 53rd Istanbul Music Festival. Köroğlu Ballet Suite, a concert suite based on her one-act ballet, was commissioned and performed by Bridges Kammerorchester at Casals Forum Kronberg in December 2025. Terracotta for violin and piano was commissioned by Concertgebouw and was performed in Amsterdam in November 2025.

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2025 © Ceren Türkmenoğlu

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