Tolga Kashif

Tolga Kashif (Tolga Kaşif) (born 1962) is a British born musical conductor, composer, orchestrator, producer and arranger of Turkish Cypriot descent.

Turkish-Cypriot Tolga Kashif was born in London. Before going on to further education, Kashif went to Forest School. His compositional and conducting studies at the Royal College of Music led him subsequently to Bristol University with Derek Bourgeois. He had his professional début with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, resulting in further collaborations with the City of London Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia and the Wren Orchestra. He has been the Music Director of the London Amadeus Choir, which is thought to have influenced the choral elements of Queen Symphony. In 1992 he became the Associate Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has enjoyed many successful orchestral concerts, particularly at the Barbican Arts Centre (formerly Barbican Hall).

Kashif's work overseas has also been highly reputable. He has conducted the Polish National Symphony and the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1989, he worked with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra abroad in a series of successful concerts held as part of the Istanbul International Festival of the same year. In 1991 he was assigned the position of Permanent Guest Conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.

As of 1989, Kashif's role as a creative partner in "The Music Sculptors" – one of the principal companies specialising in sound-to-picture – saw him combining his roles as Composer, Conductor and Producer. He worked with some more highly regarded ensembles, including the BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony and the English Chamber Orchestra. Through this programme, he co-wrote the soundtrack for Silver Fox Films' children's animation First Snow of Winter (1999), which won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award, a Royal Television Award and a Prix Jeunesse. Following the film's success, Kashif co-wrote the music to The Second Star to the Left (2001). He also co-wrote the soundtrack for Where the Heart Is, Q.E.D. (BBC TV series) and the BBC's documentary series concerning the Gulf War: Fighting the War. Kashif musically directed the BBC Children in Need's Platinum-selling single, Perfect Day (1997). Not only did it win many accolades and media awards, but it grossed £2,125,000 for Children in Need. From 2000 to the present, he has worked with music engineer Steven Price on various advertising campaigns for Blockbuster, Vodafone, Nokia, Marmite and Zurich Insurance, to name a few.

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