The striking tenor voice of the Turkish-Austrian singer Ilker Arcayürek earned its possessor several of the most prestigious awards bestowed upon young singers in the mid-2010s, and brought him a reputation as one of the vocal world's rising stars.

Arcayürek was born in Istanbul, Turkey, but was raised in Vienna. His education in singing began early there: he was a member of the city's famed Mozart Boys Choir, touring internationally with the group and joining forces with some of Vienna's top adult ensembles. After his voice broke, he joined the Arnold Schönberg Choir and took voice lessons. His principal teacher was Sead Buljubasic in Vienna, and he jumped at the chance to take master classes from visiting musicians; these included Thomas Quasthoff, Ileana Cotrubas, Sir Thomas Allen, and Alfred Brendel. Finishing touches to his training were applied during a sojourn in Switzerland, in which he was chosen for the Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera in 2010, appearing in productions of Rossini's Otello, Mozart's Così fan tutte, and Janacek's The House of the Dead. He also made concert appearances with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. He remained with the Zurich Opera until 2013, moving then to the ensemble of the Klagenfurt (Austria) Stadttheater.

Major breakthroughs for the charismatic Arcayürek began to come quickly. In 2015 he was a finalist in the popular BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and that year he was chosen as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, for a term running through 2017. He joined the ensemble of Germany's Nürnberg State Theater in 2015 and has taken starring roles such as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème. He made his debut at Madrid's Teatro Real in the spring of 2016, and later that year gave his first recital at London's Wigmore Hall, performing lieder of Schubert and Schumann.

Signed to the British boutique label Champs Hill, Arcayürek released his debut album, a program of Schubert songs entitled Der Einsame, in 2017. ~ James Manheim, Rovi