“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 the public as well as the press with her powerful, intense, and virtuoso playing, both as a soloist and chamber music player.

 

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

 

Ms. Kocamangil won various awards at many international and national competitions, such as 3rd prize and Jury Special Award in “Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition” in Croatia, 1st prize and German Friendship Special Award in “International Austrian and German Music Competition” in Bulgaria, 1st prize and the Jury Special Award in “International Young Musicians Competition” in Italy, 1st prize in “Canetti International Music Festival”, 2nd prize in “National Cello Competition” in Turkey, 3rd prize in “Liezen International Cello Competition” in Austria, 1st prize in “Leipzig Chamber Music Competition” in Germany. Also, 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 at the “Maurice Ravel International Music Academy” in France.

 

Besides her appearances at world’s famous concert venues such as l’Auditorium de Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie im Gasteig München, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Cite de la Musique Paris, Gewandhaus Leipzig,  Rosengarten Mannheim, Theater Odeon Zwolle, Theater de Vest Alkmaar, Théâtre du Chatelet Paris; she performed as a soloist and chamber musician at the outstanding festivals such as; “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-Schlosser Virtuosen”, “D-Marin Turgutreis International Music Festival”, “Athens & Epidaurus Festival” and also gave many other concerts across Europe and America. Also, she has collaborated with renowned artists such as; Tedi Papavrami, François-Frederic Guy, Isabelle van Keulen, David Grimal, Oliver Triendl, Ludmil Angelov, Calidore Quartet and Alexander Hülsoff among 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”. Also, she 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.

 

At the renowned academies and some workshops, Ms. Kocamangil 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, Steven Isserlis, Philippe Müller among many others. Also, as a passionate chamber musician, she worked with distinguished artists such as Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Pavel Gililov, Natalia Prischepenko (ex-Artemis Quartet), Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Paul Katz, Klaus Hellwig, James Buswell, Vladimir Mendelssohn and members of Ebene Quartet among many others.

 

Nil Kocamangil started to play the cello at the age of 9 and since then, 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). Also, she got her chamber music master's 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 “Meisterklassenexamen” (doctorate of music/solo cello), class of Prof. Peter Bruns at Hochschule für Musik und Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig and right after her graduation, between 2019-2020 she worked as cello teacher at the same establishment. In addition, she gave masterclasses in Turkey and abroad.

 

During her studies, she was the scholar and laureate of many foundations such as Turkish Education Foundation, Tekfen Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Dr. Nejat Eczacıbası 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 the private sponsors.

 

Nil Kocamangil is the Founder and Artistic Director of “Istanbul International Chamber Music Festival” and “Istanbul International Music Academy” which are being organized since 2021 under the name of “Academy Festival Istanbul”. Apart of her solo career, she is teaching cello and chamber music at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory Istanbul and performing as a member of Borusan Quartet. Ms. Kocamangil plays on a 19th-century cello provided to her by a generous private sponsor.