“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 at the age of 15, she performed the most important works of the cello repertoire with the orchestras such as; Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Symphony 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.

 

Her career highlights include concerts with Fazıl Say, performing his works for cello and piano; the Dutch debut of Marie Jaëll’s cello concerto at the opening of Wonderfeel Festival in the Netherlands; a concert tour as soloist with the renowned Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra; a CD recording as a soloist with Mannheimer Philharmoniker and Maestro Boian Videnoff, performing “The Swan” by Saint-Saens; a recital tour in the Netherlands, including the famous Concertgebouw Amsterdam hall as part of the “New Masters on Tour” series by THIMS; and live performances of J.S. Bach’s cello suites during Theater Hagen Ballet’s production called “Bach Tanzt” in Germany.

 

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 the world’s prestigious concert venues such as l’Auditorium de Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie im Gasteig München, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Rosengarten Mannheim, Theater de Vest Alkmaar, Théâtre du Chatelet Paris, Nikolaisaal Potsdam; she performed both as a soloist and chamber musician at the outstanding festivals such as; “Verbier Festival”, “Istanbul Music Festival”, “Ankara International Music Festival”, “Euregio MusikFestival”, “K&M Chamber Music Festival Stavanger”, “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. Her chamber music partners includes distinguished artists such as; Tedi Papavrami, François-Frederic Guy, Isabelle van Keulen, David Grimal, Oliver Triendl, Joë Christophe, Ludmil Angelov, Philippe Graffin, Vassilis Varvaresos, Calidore Quartet and Fazıl Say among others.

 

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, Giovanni Sollima, 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 the 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 (master, Hfmt Köln); Marc Coppey (master, CNSM de Paris) and Gautier Capuçon (FLV, Paris). Also, she got her master’s of chamber music in the classes of Itamar Golan (CNSM de Paris) and Miguel Da Silva (Ysaÿe Quartet-CRR de Paris). As last in 2019, she graduated with distinction from “Meisterklassenexamen”, class of Prof. Peter Bruns at Hmt Leipzig, and right after her graduation, she worked as a cello teacher at the same establishment.

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 Music Academy” which are being organized since 2021. Apart of her soloist career, she is teaching as Associate Professor at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory and works as a member of the Artistic Advisory Board of Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul. Ms. Kocamangil plays on a 19th-century cello provided to her by a generous private sponsor.

​