Ertan Torgul

Bio

Throughout his career, Turkish-American violinist Ertan Torgul has enjoyed an eclectic and multi-faceted musical path. As a recitalist, chamber musician, soloist, concertmaster, and teacher he has toured around the world and collaborated with some of today’s most sought-after musicians and ensembles.

Torgul has been a member of the award-winning SOLI Chamber Ensemble since 1996 and has served as its Managing/Artistic Director from 2011 until recently. Specializing in contemporary repertoire, the Ensemble performs concerts and residencies on both national and international stages. A strong advocate of contemporary music and living composers, he has commissioned over 100 new works and recorded six CDs, featuring commissioned works of American composers. Torgul is also a founding member of the critically acclaimed SUONO Trio, Quartet ES, and Quinteto Quilombo - a Tango Quintet specializing in Tango Nuevo – and has performed with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as the Miami, Plymouth, Fry Street, Degas, and ROCO string quartets around the world. He was in-residence at the Ojai Festival, Mainly Mozart, Point Counterpoint, and the Internationale Quartett akademie Prag-Wien-Budapest, and was the recipient of Austria’s prestigious Prix Mercure, a prize winner in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and a laureate of the Paolo Borciani International Quartet Competition.

Recent season highlights include Beethoven Triple Concerto performances with cellist Jennifer Kloetzel and pianist Robert Koenig in Waynesboro and Staunton, Virginia, performances with SUONO Trio on the Four Seasons Arts series in Berkeley, CA, a world premiere performance of composer Peter Lieuwen’s new work, The QUAD Concerto, and a two-week tour to Northern Italy with SOLI Chamber Ensemble. Torgul currently serves as a Lecturer of Violin and Chamber Music at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Affiliate Artist in Violin at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.