Elif Caglar was born in Istanbul,Turkey. She studied Jazz Composition at Istanbul Bilgi University with Turkey’s leading jazz musicians as professors. She participated in Lawrence ‘Butch’ Morris’s unique “conduction” experience and also focused on “Classical Turkish Music’” with Timur Selcuk for a year.
She moved to New York to pursue a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College (2003-2005) where she studied with Sheila Jordan and graduated with an award. She also performed at clubs in New York (55 Bar, Nublu, The Knitting Factory, The C-Note…) and returned to İstanbul in 2006.
She released her first personal album “M.U.S.I.C” at the end of 2010. Most of the songs in the album is composed by herself.