Biography

Turkish violist Arcan İsenkul (2005, Ankara) has received several prizes in national and international solo and chamber music competitions, including the Pirastro Prize for an outstanding young talent at the 6th Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition. In 2025, he won the first prize at the International Prof. Ruşen GÜNEŞ Viola Competition and is scheduled to perform concert series with the Hacettepe Symphony Orchestra, Yaşar University Symphony Orchestra, and Orkestra Akademik Başkent during the 2025–26 and 2026–27 concert seasons.

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ankara Youth Symphony Orchestra, Luzerne Music Center Orchestra, Hacettepe Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Chamber Orchestra, and Başkent Chamber Orchestra.

Passionate about chamber music, he has participated in festivals such as the Schwetzingen Festival, Yellow Barn, Bilkent Music Days, Festival du Haut-Var, Luzerne Music Center, JM International Chamber Music Campus, and G. Henle Chamber Music Academy. His chamber music partners include Jaan Bossier, Lukas Fels, Stefan Hempel, Sebastian Klinger, Angelika Merkle, Tim Vogler, and Tabea Zimmermann, among many other well-known artists. He is a current member of Colora Quartet, which was awarded the Kammermusikpreis der Polytechnischen Gesellschaft (Polytechnische Gesellschaft Chamber Music Prize) at its 27th edition in Frankfurt.

He has taken masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Amihai Grosz, Marion Leleu, Tatjana Masurenko, German Tcakulov, Heime Müller, and Günter Pichler, among others.

As an orchestra player, he has participated in projects such as Concertgebouworkest Young, Concertgebouworkest String Fling, and Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra, and has performed with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ankara Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Turkish Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in Ankara, he began his musical education at Bilkent University Music Preparatory School in 2014 under the guidance of Ece Akyol. In 2023, he graduated from the class of Cavid Cafer. He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree with Prof. Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt. He is a member of the LGT Young Soloists performing worldwide. In 2025, he was selected for the Siemens Arts Program, through which he made his debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Room. A scholarship holder from the German Instrument Fund, he plays a viola made in Mittenwald in 1973 by Josef Kantuscher.