Ilker Arcayürek

Ilker Arcayürek (* 1984 in Istanbul ) is an Austrian opera singer of Turkish origin ( tenor ).

Life

Arcayürek came to Vienna as a 5-year-old , where he grew up and became a Mozart choir boy . He sang in the Arnold Schönberg Choir and took private singing lessons from Sead Buljubasic in Vienna. In 2010 he became a member of the Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera , where he made his role debuts as Ferrando (“ Così fan tutte ”) and Aljeja (“ From the House of the Dead ”). In the 2013/14 season he was engaged at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt , where he sang Italian singers (“ Der Rosenkavalier ”), Prinz (“ Die Liebe zu den Drei Orangen ”), Alfred (“ Die Fledermaus ”) and Tamino (“ Die Zauberflöte ").

From 2015 to 2018 Ilker Arcayürek was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Nürnberg , where he played Rodolfo in “ La Bohème ”, Don Ottavio in “ Don Giovanni ”, Nadir in “ Les pêcheurs de Perles ”, Andres in “ Wozzeck ” and in the title roles of “ Idomeneo ”and“ Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria ”could be heard.

In 2016 he was a guest at the Teatro Real in Richard Wagner's “ Das Liebesverbot ” (DVD production Opus Arte). He also made a guest appearance at the Munich Opera Festival at the Bavarian State Opera in the world premiere of the opera "Die Vorübergangs" by Nikolaus Brass , in which he sang the main male role of the traveler, at the Salzburg Festival ("Lucrezia Borgia"), at the Volksoper Vienna ( 2018, as Marquis von Chateauneuf in “ Zar und Zimmermann ”) and at the Graz Opera House (2018/19 season, “ Martha ” and the title role in “ Oberon ”). In 2019 he made his US operatic debut as Nadir in “ Les Pêcheurs de Perles ” at the Santa Fe Opera . In December 2019 he appeared as Rodolfo at the Staatstheater Nürnberg.

Ilker Arcayürek is the first winner of the International Competition for Lied Art of the International Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart as well as a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and was elected New Generation Artist 2015-2017 by BBC Radio 3 . In 2018 he was invited to “Stars of Tomorrow” by ARTE .

As a lieder singer, he has made guest appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival , the Heidelberger Frühling , the Schubertiada Villabertran , the Zurich Lied Recital and the Innsbruck Festival . He performs regularly at Wigmore Hall in London . His debut album “Der Einsame” with songs by Franz Schubert was a multiple finalist for “Album of the Year” and was awarded prizes.

On the concert stage, he sang Beethoven's 9th Symphony in the Royal Albert Hall in London and recorded it on CD with Naxos and the Danish Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Ádám Fischer . Under Mariss Jansons he sang the tenor solo in Bruckner's F minor Mass in Munich's Herkulessaal with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra . He performed Liszt's Faust Symphony at the Klarafestival (BOZAR) under the musical direction of Hugh Wolff . He sang the St. Matthew Passion a. a. in the Barbican Hall London and in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam .

Ilker Arcayürek lives with his family in Zurich .