Öykü Canpolat-Rast joins the faculty of the Cologne University of Music and Dance for the summer semester 2025
The Cologne University of Music and Dance has appointed Turkish violist Öykü Canpolat-Rast as viola professor for the summer semester 2025. She previously held a professorship at the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts from 2023.
Canpolat-Rast is a graduate of the University of Music Berlin ‘Hanns Eisler’ where she earned her bachelor’s degree with Pauline Sachese and Friedemann Weigle, and her master’s degree with Tabea Zimmermann.
She served as deputy principal viola of the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra from 2016, before being appointed as principal violist of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne. She has also performed as principal violist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Symphony Orchestra. Since 2022, she has also been a member of the Bayreuth Wagner Festival Orchestra, serving as principal and deputy principal viola.
Canpolat-Rast is a prizewinner of the 7th International Syzmon Goldberg Competition in Meissen 2015, where she was awarded first prize and the audience prize. Her chamber music partners include artists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Fazil Say, Vogler Quartet, Konstantin Heidrich, Boris Garlitsky, among others.
’It is a great honour for me to teach at this university, where outstanding musicians were and are also active,’ she said on social media.
’I am especially looking forward to working with young musicians, learning together, discovering, inspiring each other and accompanying them on their artistic path.’
Read: Twelve violinists progress to semi-finals of Sendai International Music Competition
Read: Former Doric Quartet violinist appointed as Purcell School’s head of strings
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.
No comments yet