MERT ÖZKAN

CELLO COACH

Mert Ozkan began playing cello at age 8 in his hometown of Edirne, Turkey. Mert has completed his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at Trakya University State Conservatory.

In 2012, he won the cello audition of Turkish Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and took part in the world premiere of Fazıl Say's "Istanbul Symphony" under the direction of Gürer Aykal. In 2014, he took part as a principal cellist in Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca" at the Sicily Island Taormina Festival and in "La boheme" opera with the Royal Opera House Production. In 2015, he took part as a principal cellist in the Young Euro Classic Festival held in Berlin Konzerthaus, Germany. He holds a second Master’s degree from Southeastern University in Hammond, Louisiana and currently is pursuing a Doctoral degree with Dr. Alexander Russakovsky at the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2018, Mert participated in the workshop named ‘’ 3rd Mediterranean Network for Music’’ in Parma, Italy. He had the opportunity to play a duet as a band conductor in the honorary artist Italian composer and cellist Giovanni Sollima’s 40-member Cello Orchestra.

Mr. Ozkan has worked on Dvorak Cello Concerto with American cellist Lynn Harrell and won the Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) Concerto Competition with his Dvorak performance. After Lynn Harrel’s death, he performed the concerto with SLU Orchestra to honor his legacy. Mert recently won the position of assistant principal for the Mississippi Symphony and continues to serve as a member for the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Gulf Coast Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, as well as a substitute for the Louisiana Philharmonic.

Mr. Ozkan is also an experienced and committed cello teacher, and his students have received numerous honors in Turkey. In his free time, Mert enjoys cooking, traveling, taking long walks and learning languages.