Born in Izmir in 1991, Ege Banaz was born into a family of musicians. He began his clarinet studies in 2006 at Dokuz Eylül University as a student of Ender Gülenler. After completing his undergraduate studies two years early, he was accepted into the Detmold University of Music in 2011, where he completed his master’s degree, studying clarinet with Prof. Thomas Lindhorst and conducting with Prof. Joachim Harder. As the youngest student to complete the ‘Artist Diploma’ programme in Detmold, he commenced his master’s degree in chamber music at the same institution under Prof. Thomas Lindhorst.

Having won first prize at the GWK Music Awards and the Marsyas International Clarinet Competition, and third prize at the FDD Association Chamber Music Competition, the young artist continues to perform as a soloist in recitals and stage performances, in chamber music concerts with the ensembles Clarino Royal and Trio DAE, in events accompanied by orchestras, and in performances of his own arrangements for various instruments.

Since giving his first concert as a soloist at the age of 17, he has performed with the Paderborn University Orchestra, the Collegium Musicum Bielefeld, the Eskişehir Symphony Orchestra, the İzmir State Symphony Orchestra, the İzmir Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatoire Orchestra. He appeared as a soloist in a concert entitled “Young Virtuosos” at the Recontres Musicales Internationales des Graves Festival held in Bordeaux, France. He has performed as a solo clarinetist and E-flat clarinetist with the Münster Symphony, the Izmir State Symphony, the Animato Philharmonic, the Doğuş Children’s Orchestra, the National Youth Symphony, the Turkey Youth Philharmonic, the Bremen International Youth Symphony, the World Peace Orchestras, the University of Minnesota Duluth Wind Band, and the Twin Ports Wind Band. Antalya, Izmir, Bodrum, Istanbul, Ankara, Samsun, Mersin, Adana, Munich, Basel, Bremen, Duluth, Amstetten, Bratislava, Graz, Bern, Berlin, Amsterdam, The Hague, Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Bonn and New York, and was invited as a guest musician by the Sinfonieorchester Münster, the Neue Westfälische Orchester and the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra.

During his training, he attended masterclasses given by Arno Piters, Wenzel Fuchs, Charles Neidich, Mark Nuccio, Anthony McGill, Andy Miles, Reto Bieri, Güher and Süher Pekinel, and many other artists.

Ege Banaz, a scholarship holder of Güher and Süher Pekinel’s ‘Young Musicians on the World Stage’ programme between 2009 and 2014, performed in numerous concerts within this framework and featured on the recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto Piece No. 2 for Two Clarinets, which he performed at these concerts.

Ege Banaz has served as principal bass clarinetist with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra since 2018 and has been the Turkish national president of the International Clarinet Association since 2021.

Ege Banaz is a member of the “Young Musicians on World Stages” family since 2009.