Turkish violinist Arda Karakaya was born in Ankara, in 1991. He took his first violin lessons at the age of 9 from Alaaddin Canbay in Van. In 2002, he entered the Ankara State Conservatory and continued his studies with Reyyan Yücelen Başaran. He gained his Bachelor’s degree one year earlier than expected, by virtue of his outstanding achievements as the most successful student of the violin department in 2011. He continued his studies at the Music and Performing Arts Graz in Austria with Silvia Marcovici. Later, he studied with Ildiko Moog in Ankara.

The prominent Turkish violinist Cihat Aşkın has been coaching and supporting Arda from the beginning of his musical career. During his training, he participated in many masterclasses and studied with violinists such as Alexander Vinnitski, Mincho Minchev, Lutsia İbragimova, James Buswell, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Hagai Shaham, Guy Braunstein and Lewis Kaplan. He has appeared many times as a soloist with the Hacettepe Youth and Academic Orchestras. In 2012, he performed several concerts as a soloist with National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Turkey as part of the Eurochestries International Music Festival in France. His performances received highly rated reviews from the French press.

Arda appears regularly as a guest artist at many concerts and recitals throughout Turkey and the UK. He also worked as a research assistant at the Yüzüncü Yıl University Turkish Music State Conservatory in Van where he gave violin lessons between 2015-2017.

He graduated with a Masters in violin performance with distinction from the Royal College of Music, London in 2019. He studied with Itzhak Rashkovsky as a prestigious ABRSM International Scholar supported by an ISH Award. As a member of Southbank Sinfonia, he has performed at important venues such as the Barbican Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall, King’s Place and the Royal Albert hall as part of the BBC Proms festival. Arda is generously supported by “ÇEV Young Talents Project” with the financial support of “QNB Finans Bank” and Talent Unlimited.