Turkish violist Kardelen Buruk started violin lessons at the age of 8 and switched to the viola at the age of 12. In 2014 she graduated from the conservatory in Istanbul, after which she continued her studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Asdis Valdimorsdottir. In June 2020 she completed her Master of Music education with Mikhail Zemtsov with distinction.
She participated in the Academia Internacional de Música de Solsona (AIMS) Festival and received a scholarship for the masterclass at the Idyllwild Academy in the USA. In 2014 she followed the International Music Masterclass in Apeldoorn with Nobuko Imai. She followed other masterclasses with Gilles Apap, Gilad Karni, Mikhail Kugel and Garth Knox, among others. As an orchestral musician she played under the direction of Valery Gergiev and Jac van Steen, among others.
Kardelen presented her music theater production ‘Moonwalk’ at the International Viola Congress 2018 in Theater Hofplein Rotterdam.
With her viola duo Black Büyü she won the first prize at the Grand Chamber Music Prize 2019.
Kardelen Buruk is also very interested in education and developing inclusiveness. She was selected for The Global Leaders Program, traveling through Chile and Jamaica in 2019 to increase access to and impact of music in underserved communities.
In The Hague, Kardelen founded the ‘Music Bridge’ initiative to present concerts for disadvantaged communities and since 2019 she presents concerts for the Turkish community in The Hague.