Poyraz Baltacıgil was born in 1994 in Istanbul as the third child of the Baltacıgil family. He gave his first concert at the age of five and started on his music education and career at a young age.

 

He initially started with the violin but after falling asleep on the violin during a lesson, he decided to become a cellist. He began studying cello part-time with Hakkı Öztürk at Istanbul University State Conservatory. In 2005, he started studying full-time with Dilbağ Tokay at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory and graduated in 2015. From 2015 to 2017, he pursued his master's education with French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Germany.

 

Continuing his own album projects and solo concerts, Baltacıgil has performed as a soloist in numerous international and local festivals and has given concerts in prestigious concert halls worldwide and in Turkey.

 

In 2019, he joined Larsen Strings as a Performing Artist, where he became associated with renowned musicians such as Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Müller-Schott, Alina Pogostkina, Nicolas Altstaedt, Pablo Ferrandez, Milan Milisavljevic, Esther Abrami, Troels Svane, Narek Hakhnazaryan, and Tobias Breider.

 

He won the first prize in the "Benyamin Sönmez National Cello Competition" with Natalia Gutman's jury leading and the third prize in the "International Competition Young Virtuosos" in Bulgaria. Also he's been selected "The Best Young Musician of the Year 2016" by Andante Classical Music Magazine.

 

As a soloist, he has performed select pieces from the cello repertoire with orchestras such as the Venezuela Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, CRR Symphony Orchestra, Istanbul State Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Eskişehir Municipal Symphony Orchestra, MR Chamber Orchestra, Academic Capital Orchestra, Anadolu University Symphony Orchestra, Karşıyaka Municipal Chamber Orchestra, Kadıköy Pandemi Orchestra, and Istanbul Filarmonia. He has collaborated with conductors including Christian Vasquez, Rengim Gökmen, Sascha Goetzel, Antonio Pirolli, Naci Özgüç, Massimiliano Caldi, Koji Kawamoto, Hakan Şensoy, Nikos Haliassas, Yalçın Adıgüzel, Murat Sümer, Murat Cem Orhan, Erdem Çöloğlu, and Ertuğ Korkmaz.

 

In 2015, he participated in İş Sanat's "Rising Stars" concert series, where he gave a recital and later performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Sascha Goetzel, with the violinist Hande Küden and pianist Ferhat Can Büyük.

 

In the Amsterdam Cello Biennale in 2016, Poyraz Baltacıgil was part of a cello group led by Jean Guihen Queyras and performed a concert there. In 2020, during the global celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th birthday, he participated in the “Beethoven 250” project of Klasik Keyifler, which featured distinguished musicians, and gave three concerts in Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Ankara. In April 2022, he performed Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the renowned Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela at Istanbul’s İş Sanat. Later that year, in August, he embarked on a European tour with TUGFO under the baton of Cem Mansur, giving six concerts in prestigious venues such as Berlin Konzerthaus and Prague Rudolfinum.

 

Poyraz Baltacıgil recorded and released his debut album, “Voyages,” in collaboration with Cem Esen. The album includes Rachmaninoff’s “Cello and Piano Sonata” and Cem Esen’s successful composition, “Cello and Piano Sonata.” He also participated in the “Sei Solo” album project by Klasik Keyifler, which brings together innovative Turkish composers and selected musicians, recording two new Turkish pieces. Additionally, in the early months of 2023, he released the singles “Sicilienne” by Fauré and “Nostalgie” by Azarashvili on digital platforms in collaboration with pianist Mert Yeşilmenderes.

 

Apart from his solo concert performances and album projects, Poyraz Baltacıgil continues to work on new recordings and serves as the Assistant Principal Cello of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra.