Nil Kocamangil | Cello

“She is a very fine cellist and has a lot of musical imagination and sensibility, searching always different possibilities to speak the music.” — Gautier Capuçon

Born in 1989 in Istanbul, one of the leading cellists of her generation, Nil Kocamangil convinced both the public and the press with her powerful, intense, and virtuoso playing, both as a soloist and a chamber music player.

Since her debut concert as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of 15, she has performed important works of the cello repertoire with orchestras such as the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Tekfen Philharmonic, Sandnes Symfoniorkester, Mannheimer Philharmoniker, Sinfonietta Köln, Olten Philharmonic, Oberbergisches Kreises Symphonie Orchester, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Antalya State Symphony Orchestra, and Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

Chosen for the “New Masters on Tour” concert series by The Holland International Music Sessions in 2015, she gave a recital tour in the Netherlands, including the “Concertgebouw Amsterdam.” She also recorded the “Swan” of C. Saint-Saens as a soloist with Mannheimer Philharmoniker under the baton of Boian Videnoff for the CD “Träumereien,” which was released in November 2015. In the 2012 concert season, she performed the cello suites by J. S. Bach live during the performances of the Hagen Theater Ballet’s production “Bach Tanzt” in Germany. Recently, at the opening concert of the Wonderfeel Festival in Holland in July 2023, she made the Dutch Debut of the Cello Concerto by Marie Jaëll along with Maestro Johannes Leertouwer and the Wonderfeel Festival Orchestra.

Nil has won various awards at many international and national competitions, such as 3rd prize and Jury Special Award in the “Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition” in Croatia, 1st prize and German Friendship Special Award in the “International Austrian and German Music Competition” in Bulgaria, 1st prize and the Jury Special Award in the “International Young Musicians Competition” in Italy, 1st prize in the “Canetti International Music Festival,” 2nd prize in the “National Cello Competition” in Turkey, 3rd prize in the “Liezen International Cello Competition” in Austria, and 1st prize in the “Leipzig Chamber Music Competition” in Germany. Additionally, she received the Prix du Musée Bonnat and the prize of Saint Jean de Luz - Rotary/Lions Club in the two different years she participated in the “Maurice Ravel International Music Academy” in France.

Besides her appearances at the world’s famous concert venues, such as l’Auditorium de Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie im Gasteig München, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Cité de la Musique Paris, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Rosengarten Mannheim, Theater Odeon Zwolle, Theater de Vest Alkmaar, and Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at outstanding festivals, including the “Verbier Festival,” “Istanbul Music Festival,” “Ankara International Music Festival,” “Euregio MusikFestival,” “Norwegian Youth Chamber Music Festival,” “Amsterdam Chamber Music Festival,” “Dvorak Festival,” “The Holland Music Sessions & Festival,” “Sommer-Schlösser Virtuosen,” “D-Marin Turgutreis International Music Festival,” “Athens & Epidaurus Festival,” and has given many other concerts across Europe and America. She has also collaborated with renowned artists such as Tedi Papavrami, François-Frédéric Guy, Isabelle van Keulen, David Grimal, Oliver Triendl, Ludmil Angelov, Calidore Quartet, and Alexander Hülsoff, among others.

At renowned academies and workshops, Nil had the opportunity to work with renowned cellists such as Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, Yo-Yo Ma, Jens Peter Maintz, Laurence Lesser, Lluis Claret, Amit Peled, Maria Kliegel, Giovanni Sollima, Steven Isserlis, Philippe Müller, among many others. Also, as a passionate chamber musician, she worked with distinguished artists such as Gábor Takács-Nagy, Pavel Gililov, Natalia Prischepenko (ex-Artemis Quartet), Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Paul Katz, Klaus Hellwig, James Buswell, Vladimir Mendelssohn, and members of the Ebène Quartet, among many others.

Nil Kocamangil started playing the cello at the age of 9, and since then, she pursued her studies in the cello classes of Dilbag Tokay (MSFAUSC, Istanbul); Claus Kanngiesser (Hfmt Köln); Marc Coppey (CNSM de Paris); and Gautier Capuçon (FLV, Paris). She also obtained her chamber music master’s degree with her piano trio and string quartet in the classes of Itamar Golan (CNSM de Paris) and Miguel Da Silva (Ysaye Quartet-CRR de Paris). In 2019, she graduated with distinction from her “Meisterklassenexamen” (doctorate of music/solo cello) in the class of Prof. Peter Bruns at Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. Right after her graduation, between 2019-2020, she worked as a cello teacher at the same institution and also gave masterclasses in Turkey and abroad.

During her studies, she was a scholar and laureate of many foundations, such as the Turkish Education Foundation, Tekfen Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Dr. Nejat Eczacıbaşı Foundation, Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation, Sinfonima Foundation/Mannheim (instrument), Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now, ProQuartet, Association des Jeunes Talents, Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz/Germany, and she was also supported by private sponsors.

Nil Kocamangil is the Founder and Artistic Director of the “Istanbul International Chamber Music Festival” and the “Istanbul International Music Academy,” which have been organized since 2021. Apart from her solo career, she teaches cello and chamber music at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory in Istanbul and performs as a member of the Borusan Quartet. Nil plays a 19th-century cello provided to her by a generous private sponsor.