Born in 1985 in Isparta, continued his early piano studies in İzmir with Turgut Aldemir and
Zafer Çebi. Under bachelor degree at Istanbul Bilgi University Music Department studied
theory and composition with Selen Gülün and Onur Türkmen, and jazz piano with Gülün and
Tuna Ötenel. In 2006-2007 studied composition with Wojciech Widlak and Wojciech Zych at
the Academy of Music “Krzysztof Penderecki” in Cracow, Poland. Worked as a research
assistant at Istanbul Bilgi University Music Department carrying out the assistance of Michael
Ellison for two years. In 2009, with the scholarship of Bilgi, went to Italy for his post-graduate
degree in composition at Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano under
guidance of Alessandro Solbiati. After returning to Turkey, started to work as a full-time
lecturer at Bilgi Music and as the pianist – music director of Dostlar Theatre. He published
three albums, Çınar, Güneş ve Bir Deli (2017), Yok mu, Var (2018) and Live at Yeldeğirmeni
Sanat (2021) under the name Yürüyen Merdiven, a drums-piano duo formed together with
Mustafa Kemal Emirel. Completed his doctoral studies in composition at Mimar Sinan
University of Fine Arts under guidance of Özkan Manav in 2020. Being a member of BESOM,
working at Bilgi Music as a faculty member and continuing his production in the field of
contemporary acoustic music, Özatalay gets up on stage with his band Yürüyen Merdiven
and with the theatre play Yaşamaya Dair.

Website: www.yigitozatalay.com