Accolades:

Celil is an absolute master of the instrument; his technical prowess and musicality are well beyond his years.  From the moment he began the concert, I knew we were in for quite an evening of music.  While I would like to think he is a fellow human being, he performed each piece flawlessly!!  The tempos he chose for the Bach Presto and other fast movements were spectacular; again, it is hard to imagine how anyone can play with such technical and musical control at these tempos.  The program was very satisfying as well-there was great variety.  The second half being music that most, if not all, audience members had never heard before but adored once they heard it.  He received 3 standing ovations from the audience. Besides being such a talented musician, he is a very engaging and interesting person.  I know our guitar society will have him back again many times.  Once we find a treasure like him, we continue to bring him back.  So, in summary, we loved having him here!! Please stay in touch.

Dennis P. Aberle
Triangle Guitar Society
September 23, 2023

Working with Celil is always a pleasure and especially this year I hope it was good also for him that he could play in José Tomás Festival, one of the best guitar festivals in Spain. I hope this can open some doors for Celil in the near future in Spain. For me everything was perfect and I hope we can keep working together next year.

Antoni Blasi, Director
Mediterranean Guitar Festival
Barcelona, Spain
July 8-15, 2023

The overall performance went very well. Celil was well-received and he did a good job. He is a delightful young man and equally impressive personally as well as professionally.

Darryl One, Music Director
Victoria Symphony Orchestra (TX)
Feb. 25, 2023

An absolute delight, Diane. He played a beautiful concert and gave an inspiring class. We had a few opportunities to have a meal and coffee together; Celil’s a lovely, thoughtful person. I hope he enjoyed himself as much as we enjoyed having him.

Michael Kagan
Louisville Classical Guitar Society
February 15-16, 2022

Amazing! Brilliant!
One audience member said she felt like she was listening to an entire orchestra. A deservedly stellar review! Thank you Celil, for sharing your brilliant musiciality with us.

Erik Mann
Executive Director
Cleveland Classical Guitar Society
www.cleguitar.org
October 23, 2021

The Festival went very well and we were so happy to have Celil here. His concert was wonderful and it was nice to get to meet him.

Dr. Ben Lougheed, D.M.
Florida Guitar Festival at Florida State University
October 15-16, 2021

I only have good words for Celil. It has been a pleasure to have him with us at the festival, where he has shown that apart from being a top-level musician, he is also a very nice person.

Antoni Blasi
Mediterranean Guitar Festival
August 27 and 28, 2021

Celil, thank you again for the beautiful concert and class. We all thought the event was a great success and everyone is richer for having these documented on YouTube. I loved your programming, it felt like a great breath of fresh air and I have a tremendous respect for you as a composer and pedagogue. I left the class inspired to dig deeper with my teaching. Our world is small and I’m excited for our paths to cross again!

Diane, it was a beautiful event and Celil’s program was outstanding – fresh, original, inspired and couldn’t be more perfectly played. I admired his calm and insightful teaching, I felt all the performers had immediately applicable feedback and were all successful under his wing; we even had the legendary recording engineer and guitarist Norbert Kraft in attendance. Great feedback all around.

Michael Kagan
University of Louisville
April 13, 2021 – pre-recorded concert and on-line masterclass

Dear Dr. Kaya,

Thank you so much for such a spectacular performance last Saturday night!! It was wonderful working with you and we were thrilled with your performance. I’m still receiving accolades from our patrons and musicians. Thank you for making the evening such a special and memorable event!!

Best regards,

Laurie Garvie
Executive Director and President
Richardson Symphony Orchestra

November 7, 2020

We could not have been happier with Celil’s visit. His performance was breathtakingly wonderful and his masterclass was insightful and engaging. I received emails and texts from our patrons throughout the week expressing how much they enjoyed the concert and what a perfect way it was to end our season. Please do extend my appreciation to Celil. Best wishes and good health to you both.

Sincerely,

John Alvarado
President, Indianapolis Society of the Classical Guitar
www.indianaguitar.org
https://www.facebook.com/indianaguitar/
March, 2020

“The performances are just perfect—he doesn’t try to make the music more than it is, but he does realize the real heart in these pieces. If you don’t know Morel’s music, this is a wonderful chance to hear a healthy helping of pure delight. ”

– American Record Guide

“It’s 20 years since John Williams’ spellbinding version [of Koyunbaba] came out; Kaya’s assured rendering certainly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath.”

– Classical Guitar Magazine

International recording and performing artist Celil Refik Kaya is one of two three-time prizewinners of the Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition, the youngest First Prize Winner of the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, and is a recording artist with Naxos Record label. Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conductor JoAnn Falletta commends Mr. Kaya as “a superb musician in every sense”. American Record Guide has called his performances “just perfect”, and numerous critiques from around the world applaud Mr. Kaya’s playing as being “seemingly effortless”.

We could not have been happier with Celil’s visit. His performance was breathtakingly wonderful and his masterclass was insightful and engaging. I received emails and texts from our patrons throughout the week expressing how much they enjoyed the concert and what a perfect way it was to end our season.

John Alvarado
President, Indianapolis Society of the Classical Guitar
www.indianaguitar.org
March 9 & 10, 2020

It was a wonderful concert and a real pleasure to have Celil here with us!

Dr. Troy Gifford
Program Chair, Music
Valencia College
February 26, 2020

We very much enjoyed Celil’s visit and he played an excellent concert!

Joe Hagedorn
Minnesota Classical Guitar Society
April 26, 2019

I have accompanied a very large number of excellent guitarists in my career, and Celil Refik Kaya is a standout! His superb technique, beautiful sound and innate musicality make him not only a great guitarist but a superb musician in every sense.

JoAnn Falletta

Celil gave a fantastic concert! I heard many compliments on his playing, musicality and choice of repertoire. People were especially taken with his interpretation of Koyunbaba; I have not heard it played better, and those who were unfamiliar with the piece found it captivating. There was something in his program for everyone in our diverse audience due to the inclusion of his own compositions along with some of the more familiar pieces from the repertoire. His sound was wonderful in our venue and he presented himself very professionally as well. The masterclass also went well and the players as well as the audience thought he gave thoughtful and very helpful suggestions. He was very kind to the players and made them feel at ease in what can be a stressful environment. In summary, he was quite a hit with the audience and a return engagement would likely be very well attended. We enjoyed having him in the concert series and his performance at the event was everything I had hoped it would be.

Ronna Erickson
April !Guitarra!
U. Mass/Amherst, MA
April 14-15, 2018

The concert with Celil was fantastic and it was great of him to step up and fill in when issues arose with our originally scheduled artist.

Kevin J. Cope
President, Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society
February 11, 2018

Celil and his wife were charming and wonderful. His outreach was great and I can see he’s thinking about and developing ways to connect with kids. He’s a musical genius. What a find. I couldn’t be happier.

Erik Mann
Executive Director
Cleveland Classical Guitar Society
www.cleguitar.org
October 14, 2017