Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen, DMA

BIOGRAPHY

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Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen, DMA is a trumpet artist, educator, and scholar working across performance, pedagogy, and contemporary creation. Trained at the Eastman School of Music and Malmö Academy of Music, he has premiered works by leading composers and performed with ensembles across Europe and the United States. His practice spans long-duration performance art, historically informed approaches, and new music collaborations. Current work focuses on performing live performances, commissioning, recording, and sharing projects that connect audiences and institutions.

Key Highlights 

• Premiered/recorded 20+ solo and chamber works

• Long durational performance art solo performance Forced Misophonia: BLAST, BLOW, PULSE presented at SSM Contemporary Art Museum, curated by Marina Abramović Institute (4.5 weeks, 8 hours/day).

• Performances on 4 continents with ensembles including Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Échappé, Oratorio Society of New York, Chamber Orchestra of New York.

• Recent premieres with Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP) (Hindman, Sangbin-Rhie, Retif, Chi-sun Lee).  

• Awards include National Trumpet Competition (1st), Lions European Music Prize (national winner).

Selected Projects

• Forced Misophonia: BLAST, BLOW, PULSE — Long-duration solo work exploring presence and silence; presented within Abramović’s AKIŞ/FLUX at SSM (2020). Book + recording in preparation.  

• Caged Dream of Stuffed Ludwig (S. Rhie) — Trumpet + percussion/electronics; premiere and recording with Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP) (2023–25). 

Performances and Ensembles

Since 2000 until the completion of his education, Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen has appeared as soloist with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Izmir State Symphony, Orchestra Academic Başkent, Antalya State Symphony, Istanbul State Conservatory Orchestra, Malmö Musikhögskolan Chamber Orchestra, and the Eastman Chamber Orchestra.  During his residency in Rochester, NY,  performances with ensembles included Eastman Ossia, Musica Nova, Eastman Trumpet Ensemble, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Brass Guild, and Eastman Philharmonia. Currently active as a trumpet soloist, interpreter, improvisor, clinician, and chamber musician in New York City area, and in Finland, Cabaoglu Virtanen was a member of European Brass Ensemble based in Stift Melk, Austria.  

As an ensemble player, he performed with Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Échappé, MODbrass, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra,  Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, ensembles at The Cathedral of St.John The Divine,  Orchestra of St.Ignatius Loyola, Malmö Trumpet Ensemble, the MIAM Modern Music Ensemble, and a new USA-based project ensembles Contemporary Art Music Project, Tampa, FL, and The Ritsos Project Ensemble in Samos Island and Athens, Greece. In NYC he also supported the foundation of a new orchestra project,  as principal trumpet and orchestral contractor for Winds and Percussion at New Manhattan Sinfonietta. Other performances have brought him to 4 continents, including the countries of Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Australia, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey. Some of the conductors he has worked under are James Baker, Tim Weiss, Kent Tritle, Jeffrey Milarsky, Charles Hazlewood, Alexander Rahbari, Alexander Rudin, Leif Segerstam, Gürer Aykal, Sascha Goetzel, Michael Ruhling, Mark Davis Scatterday, Alparslan Ertüngealp, K. Scott Warren, Andrew Greenwood, Marek Pijarowki, Ionescu Galati, Salvatore Di Vittorio, etc. Cabaoglu has performed world premieres by composers such as Paul Moravec, Behzad Ranjbaran, Erden Bilgen, Turgut Erçetin, Dave Headlam, Dorothy Hindman, Recep Gül, Evan Henry, Kamran Ince, Tonia Ko, Leif Segerstam, Michael Ellison, Daniel Pesca, Axel Retif, David Riebe, Maxwell Dulaney, Phil Taylor, Jonathan Dawe, Theo Chandler, Nathan Prillaman, Ibrahim Maalouf, Salvatore Di Vittorio and many others.

Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen gives special emphasis on improvisation and multidisciplinary art by using contemporary and historical sources. His current projects include CABASI, a project collaborating with composer and improvisor Cenk Ergun. In 2018, in NYC, a collaboration with trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen has formed a special trumpet section called The Levantine Trumpets, using particularly using quarter-tone trumpets upon Maalouf's request and combining the Middle Eastern and Western styles. The section has recently performed the world premiere of Levantine Symphony No.1 by Maalouf at Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. In 2022,  a work for Trumpet and Timpani was commissioned by Eastman School of Music from composer Serin Oh, as a video production for the centennial of the schools foundation, one of the finest conservatories in the world.

Teaching and Service

Students find Cabaoglu Virtanen’s diverse and highly personalized teaching methods to be effective and inspiring.  For samples of student evaluations, please visit his "Educator" page. Cabaoglu has been a trumpet instructor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY, an adjunct faculty member as the main trumpet teacher at Istanbul National Conservatory.  Dr.Cabaoglu served as as assistant professor of music at Istanbul Conservatory at Maltepe University for 2.5 years between 2021-2023.  In the past, Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen started his own music school called Upper East Side Music Studio, in Manhattan, New York City. Since 2019, Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen also serves as a faculty member at Camp Encore Coda, one of the oldest music camps in the USA, located in Sweden, Maine.  In 2021, Dr.Cabaoglu Virtanen started to serve as Vice President of the Board in Europe for the  World Trumpet Society,  as one of the faculty members of internationally renowned teachers and performers , dedicated to helping aspiring musicians develop technical skills, interpretive expertise, and individual artistry at the highest level of excellence. Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen also been an active member and actively attending academic conferences and symposiums by International Trumpet Guild, Historic Brass Society, The American Musicological Society, and The College Music Society. Dr.Cabaoglu has attended Center for Advanced Studies in Music at Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar for 3 summers, the finest trumpet summit in the world.

Awards

Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen has won awards in international competitions such as the Grand Valley State University International Trumpet Seminar and Solo Trumpet Competition (2nd prize with no 1st prize awarded, 2008), the National Trumpet Competition of Başkent University (1st Prize, 2005), the Lions European Music Prize for Trumpet (Turkish National Winner, 2005), and the Turkish Culture Ministry National Trumpet Competition (2nd Prize, 2000). In 2017, Cabaoglu also been served as a jury member at the Lions European Music Prize, Trumpet Competition. In 2021, a live recording at Carnegie Hall, where Cabaoglu served as an orchestra member under Kent Tritle and Oratorio Society of New York was recently nominated for a Grammy Award.

Education/Background

In 2016, he completed his doctoral studies in Trumpet Performance, Repertoire, and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in New York, USA. Arda Cabaoglu’s primary trumpet and  music teachers have included James Thompson (USA), Håkan Hardenberger, Bo Nilsson, and Olle Sjöberg (Sweden) and Erden Bilgen (Istanbul).

As a Borusan Music Scholarship fellow, during his doctoral studies at Eastman School of Music, Cabaoglu received the opportunity to study at Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden.  This three-year period of leave to study in Sweden further deepened Cabaoglu’s interpretive emphasis and developed his methodologies relating trumpet performance to the use of one’s voice. Before Eastman, he studied at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul State Conservatory and the ITÜ—MIAM Center for Advanced Studies in Music in Istanbul.

Dr. Cabaoglu Virtanen has also pursued baroque trumpet lessons with Dr. Edward Tarr in Rheinfelden, Germany, with Leif Bengtsson and Pierre Thorvald in Sweden, and Brian Shaw at Eastman. Cabaoglu has served for 3 years as instructor of secondary trumpet classes (and first ever baroque trumpet instructor) at the Eastman School of Music, for which he was nominated for a graduate teaching award in brass instruction.  

Gear

Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen has been performing on primarily Yamaha Trumpets designed in collaboration with by Bob Malone and Yamaha Corp. Hamamatsu, Japan, as well as trumpets made by Vincent Bach (Elkhart IN), Renold Schilke (Chicago, IL), Henri Selmer (Paris), and also custom made 3 Martin Committee Trumpets made in late 1940s and early 1950s. Trumpet mouthpieces made by Vincent Bach (Mt.Vernon NY), Toshi Kameyama. His trumpet technician has been Wayne Tanabe at Yamaha Artist Services (YASI) New York City since 2009.  Dr.Cabaoglu also plays on Rainer Egger’s (Switzerland) baroque and natural trumpets.

Current & Future Projects

UNMUTE IT! : A global solo trumpet workshop for composers

In 2024, Dr.Cabaoglu Virtanen is conducting a global solo trumpet workshop for composers. This project is called UNMUTE IT!. It’s a project under The Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP). As a CAMP performer, Dr.Cabaoglu premiers new music for trumpet in solo and chamber settings, annually in March at CAMPGround New Music  Festival. Please click here for more information for CAMPGround.

IsAndAir: A contemporary duo dedicated for creating a new repertory for violin and trumpet duo

In 2024, Sini Virtanen Cabaoglu and Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen established a contemporary violin and trumpet duo called IsAndAir (named after the work dedicated to them by composer Dorothy Hindman). They have premiered works by Dorothy Hindman, and Axel Retif, and commissioning new works for violin and trumpet solo duo. 

I’MMATERIAL: A series of Long Durational Musical Performance Art projects by Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen

Arda Cabaoglu is planning to present a series of experimental performances in the genre of long durational musical performance art. This project will span over four years, with each of the four works centered around its unique features.
Since 2024, Dr.Cabaoglu Virtanen has been creating his own new projects and proposing them to various art foundations.

Media: Pictures and Links
Please visit Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen’s photo gallery, or portfolio for detailed visuals, videos, and sound recordings.

And a few links from recent projects are listed below:

Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen’s book on his Long Durational Musical Performance Art work FORCED MISOPHONIA: BLAST BLOW PULSE (2020) curated by MAI, is going to be published in 2026
https://www.mai.art/work/akis-flux

A CAMP artist, Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen has been featured as a performer since 2021 for the annual New Music festival CAMPGround
https://contemporaryartmusicproject.squarespace.com/campground25-performing-artists

Trumpeter Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen recently completed an extraordinary 4.5 week-long improvisational, long duration, performance art project, Forced Misophonia: BLAST BLOW PULSE.
https://trumpetguild.org/content/itg-news/1845-forced-misophonia-blast-blow-pulse

 Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen recently premiered and recorded a new work by composer Sangbin Rhie, Caged Dream of Stuffed Ludwig for solo trumpet and percussion ensemble, in collaboration with The Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP)
https://trumpetguild.org/content/itg-news/2417-arda-cabaog-lu-premieres-sangbin-rhie-new-work

3 Trumpet World Premieres at CAMPGround25
by Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen
https://trumpetguild.org/content/itg-news/2694-3-trumpet-world-premieres-at-campground25-by-arda-cabaoglu

EDUCATION

Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
Rochester, New York, USA
Doctor of Musical Arts, Trumpet Performance and Literature
2008–2010, 2013–2016 (academic leave 2010–2013)
Primary Professors: James Thompson, Ellen Koskoff, Steve Laitz, Seth Monahan, Matthew Brown, Dave Headlam, Roger Freitas, Philip Silvey, Christopher Azzara, Christina Fava, Mark Davis Scatterday, Neil Varon, Brad Lubman, Michael Ruhling, Paul O'Dette, Donald Hunsberger, Clay Jenkins, Dariusz Terefenko, Patrick Macey, Ralph P. Locke, Bruce Frank, Douglas Prosser

Malmö Academy of Music, Lund University
Malmö, Sweden
Master of Music
2011–2013
Advanced Course in Interpretation of Music Performance
2010–2011
Primary Professors: Håkan Hardenberger, Bo Nilsson, Olle Sjöberg, Samuli Örnströmer, Kjell Edstrands

Center for Advanced Studies in Music, Istanbul Technical University
Istanbul, Turkey
Master of Arts
2006–2008
Primary Professors: Erden Bilgen, Kamran Ince, Michael Ellison, Robert Reigle, Paul Whitehead, Mary Berkmen, Cihat Aşkın, Ayşegül Sarıca

Istanbul State Conservatory, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
Istanbul, Turkey
Bachelor of Music
2002–2005
Primary Professor: Erden Bilgen