He was born on June 13, 1998, in Adana. In 2016, he became a composition student at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Here, he worked with Özkan Manav, Hasan Uçarsu, Ahmet Altınel and Mehmet Nemutlu for his Bachelor’s and Master’s program. Until today, he studied at Hfmt Hamburg with Gordon Kampe and at KUG Graz with Klaus Lang as an Erasmus student. Now, he is studying with Clemens Gadenstätter for his second Master’s studies in KUG Graz. His works have been performed by leading ensembles, orchestras, such as Ensemble Multilaterale, Quatuor Diotima, Ensemble Oerknal, Appasionato

Ensemble, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Gilgamesh Ensemble, Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra Klasik Keyifler Ensemble, Diskant Ensemble, Anadolu Wind Quintet, Kalamos Quintet; and conductors by Gürer Aykal, Gregory Charette, Erberk Eryılmaz and Robertas Šervenikas. Some awards he received in competitions: Tage der Neuen Klaviermusik Graz Audience Prize (2025), Kompositionswettbewerb des Calefax Reed Quintet (2024) (Honorable Mention), 3rd Prize at the International Ihsan Doğramacı Bilkent Orchestra Composition Competition, Jury Special Prize at the Aima 25th Anniversary Composition Prize (2023), 1st Prize at the 4th International Composition Competition New Music Generation (2022), 3rd Prize at the Gilgamesh Composition Competition (2022), 6th Prize at the 2nd International Choral Composition Competition UAH (2022), Honorable Mention at the IV. International Composition Competition "Appasionato Ensemble" (2022), 3rd Prize at the 2nd International Balsys Composition Competition (2021), 3rd Prize at the 11th Mersin International Music Festival Composition Competition (2019), Audience Special Prize and Honorable Mention at the Süleymanpaşa Municipality Bisanthe Gülsin Onay Piano Composition Competition (2019), 2nd Prize at the 9th Mersin International Music Festival Composition Competition (2017).

Names he has worked with so far (Masterclass/workshop included): Frédéric Durieux, Jack Quartet Workshop, Quatuor Diotima Workshop, Sara Nemtsov, Clara Iannotta, Chaya Czernowin, Steven Kazuo Takasugi, Johannes Kalitzke, Johannes Maria Staud, Gordon Kampe, Klaus Lang, Beat Furrer, Franck Bedrossian, Yann Robin, Francesco Filidei, Clemens Gadenstätter, Annesley Black, Ramon Lascano, Klaus Lang, Jean-luc Herve, Pierluigi Billone,

Marco Stroppa, Martin Matalon, Jérôme Combier, Mark Andre, Onur Türkmen, Mahir Cetiz, Yiğit Aydın, Michael Ellison, Ülkemin Akbaş, Pieter Snapper, Shih-Hui Chen, Hideki Kozakura, Michael Edward Edgerton, Samir Todeh-Tamimi, Kamran Ince. Festivals he has attended: 4th Annual Symposium on Enharmonic Interfaces and Controllers for Keyboard Instruments: Extending the Organ’s Potential (Austria, MDW, 2025), Impuls Composition Academy (Austria, 2025), IYCA Ticino Academy (Switzerland, 2024), Impuls Composition Academy (Austria, 2023), Barcelona Modern Academy (Spain, 2023), Istanbul Bilgi University Bilgi New Music Festival (Turkey, 2021), Bilkent Composition Academy (Turkey, Ankara, 2017–2019), The Second Eternal Hope Festival: Gustav Mahler & Terezin

Composers Festival (Czech Republic, 2018), 10th, 11th, and 13th Journeys of Sound: Festival of Young Composers (Turkey, 2017, 2018, 2021)

A significant portion of his experience in composition has been gained through his relationship with the Istanbul Composers Collective. He considers them as his most valuable school and companions on this journey, especially Mithatcan Öcal, Emre Dündar, Mehmetali Uzunselvi, and Uğurcan Öztekin. The composer expresses gratitude to his dear friends Emircan Pehlivan and Mithatcan Öcal for their music discussions and collaborations.

Akin Kilis