Gizem Yücel is a versatile concert violist equally at home in many genres from jazz to experimental. She holds bachelor’s and master's degree in viola performance from Hacettepe University State Conservatory and Bilkent University in her hometown of Ankara, Turkey. After moving to the United States she received her Artist Diploma in viola performance from SUNY Purchase College in New York and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a cognate in piano and conducting.

Gizem was a member of the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra in Ankara, Turkey. She has been well-received internationally at the Şimdi Now Festival in Belgium and Germany, Łańcut Festival in Poland, and Musica en Compostela in Spain, as well as the Festival Del Sole Napa Valley, Texas Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, and the Hot Springs festivals in the U.S.

Her performance credits include a European tour with renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say and a tour with legendary rock sensation Jethro Tull. She has shared the stage with Rod Stewart and her band opened for Santigold at an MTV production. Gizem has recorded with many great musicians from various genres including jazz bassist Eric Revis and classical pianist İdil Biret. Her SUNY Purchase quartet's recording has aired on the NYC radio station WQXR’s "The Young Artists Of The Hour.”

She now teaches and plays actively in NYC and travels to North Carolina where she is a member of Greensboro Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dmitry Sitkovetsky.