Чихад Ашкън

Istanbul-born, Cihat Aşkın gave his first recital at eleven and studied with Ayhan Turan at the Turkish Music State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1989, and continued in London at the Royal College of Music and City University, working with Rodney Friend, Yfrah Neaman, Igor Oistrakh and Ruggiero Ricci. He plays across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas in programmes that set the Western canon beside music rooted in Turkish tradition, and has recorded works by Turkish composers. Alongside his university teaching he runs Cihat Aşkın and Little Friends, a project for young violinists. He composes as well, for the violin and for other instruments, and his institutional projects include the Istanbul Chamber Orchestra.