Celil Refik Kaya

Since his concert debut at the age of six, Turkish American guitarist and composer Dr Celil Refik Kaya has received many high accolades. He was the youngest contestant to win First Prize in the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, and is a prizewinner of international guitar competitions across Europe and the US. In 2017 he was named Rising Young Musician of the Year by the Donizetti Classical Music Awards in Istanbul and awarded a prestigious fellowship from Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks. Dr Kaya has performed in concert halls and festivals, giving solo performances at Carnegie Hall, Het Concertgebouw, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and Ankara International Music Festival among others, and numerous radio broadcasts and concert performances throughout the United States, Europe and Turkey. Kaya’s first recording, Morel: Guitar Music (8.573514) was critically acclaimed by American Record Guide. He has also recorded works by Carlo Domeniconi and Agustín Barrios Mangoré for Naxos. Celil Refik Kaya is currently the coordinator of guitar studies and teaching at the New Jersey City University and Kean University.