Born in 1985 in Isparta, Yiğit Özatalay continued his early piano studies in İzmir with Turgut Aldemir and Zafer Çebi. Under bachelor degree in music at Istanbul Bilgi University, studied jazz piano with Selen Gülün and Tuna Ötenel, and composition with Gülün and Onur Türkmen. For two semesters, studied composition with Wojciech Widlak and modern composition techniques with Wojciech Zych at the Academy of Music in Cracow, Poland. Worked as research assistant at Istanbul Bilgi University Music Department for two years. In 2009, with the scholarship of Bilgi, went to Italy for his post-graduate degree in composition at Milan Conservatory under guidance of Alessandro Solbiati. Returning to Turkey in 2011, started to work as full-time lecturer at Bilgi Music and also as the pianist and music director of Dostlar Theatre. He published two albums (Çınar, Güneş ve Bir Deli in 2017 and Yok mu, Var in 2018) under the name Yürüyen Merdiven, a drums-piano duo formed together with Mustafa Kemal Emirel. Worked as the arranger and music director of Kaldırım Serçesi (Edith Piaf Musical) put on scene by Altıdan Sonra Tiyatro in 2019. Completed his doctoral studies in composition at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts under guidance of Özkan Manav in 2020. Working still at Bilgi Music and continuing his production in the field of contemporary acoustic music, Özatalay gets up on stage with his band Yürüyen Merdiven and with the theatre plays Yaşamaya Dair and Merhaba. www.yigitozatalay.com