Turkish violinist Yankı Karataş has been a violin fellow at the New World Symphony since 2020. Before that, she was a Tanglewood Music Center fellow during the 2018 and 2019 summers, serving as a concertmaster during both. When living in Turkey, she also performed with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Camerata Saygun, and AIMA Festival Orchestra. More recently she has been serving as the Assistant Concertmaster of the New Manhattan Sinfonietta.
An avid chamber musician, Yankı is the winner of the Lauren V. Ackerman Chamber Music Competition and has performed alongside artists such as Lawrence Dutton, Paul Watkins, Colin Carr, and Arnaud Sussmann. She has also had coachings with members of the Juilliard, Orion, Emerson, and Borromeo string quartets.
Yankı has made solo appearances with various orchestras including the Mersin University Academic Chamber Orchestra, Kopuz Chamber Orchestra, Mimar Sinan Symphony, and Stony Brook Symphony. She has also worked under conductors Andris Nelsons, Michael Tilson Thomas, Giancarlo Guerrero, and Larry Rachleff.
Yankı received her bachelor of music degree at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul Conservatory, where she studied with Pelin Halkaci Akin and graduated with high honors. She moved to America in 2014 to receive her master’s degree at Stony Brook University, where she is now finishing her doctoral degree. While at Stony Brook, she studied with various mentors including Hagai Shaham, Philip Setzer, and Arnaud Sussmann, and studied chamber music under the Emerson String Quartet Intensive program.
When not playing the violin Yankı enjoys meditating, dogs, and working on a podcast she started with her husband called Exploring Kodawari.