Asli Gultekin Ozek

Dr. Aslı Gültekin Özek was born in Ankara, Turkey. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Bilkent University and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in viola performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). At UIUC, she studied with Rudolf Haken and Masumi Per Rostad, the violist of the Grammy-winning Pacifica Quartet. She has been an active participant in masterclasses and music and orchestra festivals in Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, and China. She performed in masterclasses of the Kronos Quartet, the Avalon Quartet, Jerzy Kosmala in Poland, and Csaba Erdelyi and Ivo-Jan van def Werff at UIUC. She has given solo recitals and chamber concerts in Turkey and the United States. She is the recipient of the Chip Davis Mannheim Steamroller Orchestra Award in 2007 and was the finalist of the Coeur D’Alene Young Artist Concert Competition in 2008. She moved to Northern Virginia in 2010 and since then she has been teaching in her private studio and performing in the VA-MD-DC area. She has been playing in the Apollo Orchestra, Tysons McLean Orchestra, and served as the principal violist of the Manassas Symphony Orchestra.