Tolga Kulak was born in 1986 in Izmir, Turkey. In 1997, he began his musical training at the State Conservatory of Dokuz Eylül University with Kartal Akıncı, Concertmaster of the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra. During his studies, he gave many solo and chamber music concerts with the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra and the Dokuz Eylül Symphony Orchestra.

In 2000, he won second prize in the Lions Club and Yamaha violin competitions. In 2006, he began studying with Professor Jerrold Rubenstein and playing in the first violin sections of the Borusan Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras. Since then, he has participated in chamber music and violin masterclasses led by Lucas David, Ellen Jewett, Joshua Epstein, Ruşen Güneş, Çiğdem İyicil, and Özcan Ulucan.

After completing his bachelor’s degree in 2007, Tolga Kulak promptly received an offer for a tenured position at the Violin Faculty of Yaşar University, becoming Principal Second Violinist of the Yaşar Chamber Orchestra. In 2009, he began his master’s degree with Professor Ilya Grubert at the Amsterdam Conservatory and was accepted into the Ligeti Academy. He also took private lessons with Liviu Prunaru – Concertmaster – Henk Rubink and Caroline Strumphler – Section Leaders of the second violins of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. While studying in Amsterdam, he also had the opportunity to work with Otto Tausk and Ivan Meylemans as Concertmaster of the CVA Symphony Orchestra. He also performed regularly with his string quartet. During his career, he has given solo and chamber music concerts in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Singapore and China.

In 2014 and 2015, he was invited by the Verbier Festival Orchestra to play with Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Pinchas Zukerman, Renaud Capuçon, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Ivan Fischer, Charles Dutoit, Jaap van Zweden, Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, and Yuri Temirkanov. In 2014, he joined the permanent staff of the Izmir State Opera and Ballet Orchestra, becoming its concertmaster in 2019. He was also Concertmaster of the Yaşar Symphony Orchestra and the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Symphony Orchestra in Turkey. He began working at the Ankara State Opera and Ballet in 2024. After a short period with this orchestra, he won the audition to join the first violin section of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.

Tolga Kulak plays a 1734 Santo Serafim violin.