Since his concert debut at the age of 6, Turkish American guitarist and composer Cecil Kaya has received high accolades from an early age, being the youngest to win First Prize in the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, prizewinner of international guitar competitions from Europe and throughout the United States. In 2017 he was awarded "Rising Young Musician of the Year" by Donizetti Classical Music Awards in Istanbul and a prestigious fellowship from Harvard University's Dumbarton Oaks.

Dr. Kaya has performed in concert halls and festivals, giving solo performances at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, The Frick Collection Museum in NYC New York Guitar Seminar Festival, Round Top Festival, Brevard Music Festival, Raritan River Music Festival and Ankara International Music Festival, and numerous radio broadcasts and concert performances throughout the United States and Europe. As a concert soloist, he has collaborated with professional orchestras such as the Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Turkey, Istanbul State Symphony, Hilton Head Symphony, Brevard Festival Orchestra, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Bilkent Symphony, and many others and has gained his great artistic recognition internationally.

Dr. Kaya is currently the Coordinator of Guitar Studies at the New Jersey City University and Kean University.