Tenor Ilker Arcayürek has emerged in recent years as one of the most exciting and versatile vocal artists, praised by the press for his “golden tenor” (Opera Now Magazine) and quickly establishing himself as “in a class of his own” (The Guardian). He is a winner of the International Art Song Competition of the German Hugo Wolf Academy, a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015 and was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist.
He was also selected to perform on Ronaldo Vilazon's “Stars of Tomorrow” on ARTE. In 2017 Champs Hill Records released his first solo album “Der Einsame” featuring Schubert songs accompanied by Simon Lepper to critical acclaim. His latest recording with Simon entitled “Path of Life” for Prospero Classical was recently nominated for 2 OPUS KLASSIK Awards.
Ilker was a member of the Zurich Opera Studio (2009-2013), a member of the ensemble of the Stadttheater Klagenfurt (2013-2015) and the Staatstheater Nürnberg (2015-18) and sang various roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, the title role of Idomeneo, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Rodolfo in La Bohème. He appeared as a guest at the Teatro Real Madrid in Kasper Holten's production of Wagner's Das Liebesverbot, at the Munich Opera Festival of the Bavarian State Opera in the world premiere of Nikolaus Brass' Die Vorübergehenden, at the Salzburg Festival in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, at the Volksoper Vienna in Lortzing's Zar und Zimmerman and at the Graz Opera in the role of Lyonel in Flotow's Martha and in the title role in Weber's Oberon. In summer 2019, Ilker made his US opera debut in the role of Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Santa Fe Opera.
In addition to his commitment to the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Ilker is a passionate lieder singer and works with pianists such as Simon Lepper, Hartmut Höll, Ammiel Bushakevitz, Daniel Heide and Wolfram Rieger. He has given recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival, Wigmore Hall, Schubertiada Vilabertran, deSingel Antwerp, Innsbrucker Festwochen and Bibliotheksaal Polling. He made his eagerly awaited debut in the USA in February 2019 at the Park Avenue Armory in New York and at San Francisco Performances, accompanied by pianist Simon Lepper. Other upcoming recital dates include Oxford Lieder, Schubertiade, Life Victoria Barcelona (Die schone Mullerin) and Hospitalhof Stuttgart as part of the Hugo Wolf Academy.
On the concert stage he has performed with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Danish Chamber Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Northern Sinfonia under conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Ivor Bolton, Laurence Equilbey, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Philippe Herreweghe, Riccardo Minasi, Mikhail Pletnev, Lars Vogt and Adam Fischer.
Recent highlights have included the Britten Serenade with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Felix Kleiser, the tenor arias in the St. Matthew Passion at the Palau in Barcelona under Simon Halsey with soloists from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Mozart Requiem at the Vienna Konzerthaus and with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven 9 with the Vienna RSO under Marin Alsop.
Next season and beyond, he will return to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Jordan to perform Schuman's Das Paradies und die Peri with the Symphonischer Chor Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie, Haydn's The Creation with the WDR Cologne and Mozart's Mass in C with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin as well as concerts with the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and the Collegium Vocale Gent (Dvorak Requiem, Beethoven Missa Solemnis and Schuman Das Paradis und die Peri).
On the opera stage, he will make his debut this season with the Canadian Opera Company as Tamino in The Magic Flute and for Opera Vlaanderen and Opéra National de Montpellier in the roles of Ariel and Pater Ecstaticus in Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust.
Ilker lives in Zurich with his wife and daughter.