Ilker Arcayürek

© Gillian Riesen

Ilker Arcayürek

Ilker Arcayürek was born in Istanbul and grew up in Vienna. He received his first musical training as a Mozart boy singer with Peter Lang. As a soloist of the boy's choir, he was able to gain his first stage experience both on tours abroad and on domestic stages at the Vienna Volksoper, the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Chamber Opera. He continued his training with tenor Sead Buljubasic and sang in the Arnold Schönberg Choir before being accepted into the International Opera Studio Zurich (IOS). In the seasons 2010/2011 - 2012/2013 he was engaged at the Zurich Opera House. In addition to his activities there, he also gained numerous concert experiences. Under the direction of Muhai Tang, he performed at the New Year's Concert with the ZKO (Zurich Chamber Orchestra) at the Tonhalle Zurich and KKL Lucerne. This was followed in 2011 by another concert collaboration with Muhai Tang as Orlando in Joseph Haydn's "Orlando Paladino". In 2012 he was part of the Verbier Festival Academy where he also attended masterclasses with: Thomas Quasthoff, Ileana Cotrubas, Sir Thomas Alan and Alfred Brendel. In "Le Nozze di Figaro" he was heard as Basilio and Don Curzio in a concert performance conducted by Paul McCreesh. With pianist Norman Shetler, he gave recitals and performed Schumann's Dichterliebe and Liederkreis Op.24 in Bonn, among others. In 2013 he made his debut as Ferrando in "Così fan tutte" under the direction of Thomas Rösner in a guest production of the Zurich Opera House at the Stadttheater Winterthur. At the Summer Festival Opera Klosterneuburg he made his guest appearance and debut in the following years in 2013 as Fenton in "The Merry Wives of Windsor", in 2014 as Tamino in "The Magic Flute" and Swan in "Carmina Burana". Under the direction of Franz Welser Möst, he sang the Beethoven C-Major Mass in Vienna and recorded it on CD. In the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons he was an ensemble member at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt. There he sang the roles of Alfred in "Die Fledermaus", Prince in "The Love for Three Oranges", Italian Singer in "Der Rosenkavalier", Chevalier de la Force in "Dialogues des Carmelites" and Tamino, among others. With the role of the Son in "Tahrir" he makes his debut at the Salzburg Landestheater. As of the 2015/2016 season, he is an ensemble member at the Nuremberg State Theater.