Artist first.

Dr. Volkan Can Canbolat is a violinist, producer, songwriter, educator, and lifelong student of sound.

Born and raised in Izmir, Turkey, Volkan began his journey in the classical world before moving to the United States on a full scholarship to continue his studies.

He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance and a Doctorate in Musical Arts and is a Suzuki-certified teacher through Books 1–10. But somewhere along the way, the boundaries between performer, teacher, producer, and composer began to disappear.

His career has moved freely between concert halls, classrooms, recording studios, and stages around the world.

Volkan has performed in more than 30 countries, appeared on The Voice and the Andrea Bocelli PBS Special, and taught violin for nearly a decade at the Colburn School. In 2022, he received an Emerging Artist Grant from the California Arts Council.

As a producer, his work has reached audiences around the world, including I Looked Future in the Eyes, It’s Mine, co-produced with his violin student Sofia Isella and featured in an Apple iPad campaign.

But some of his most important work has happened in much smaller rooms.

For years, Volkan has taught hundreds of aspiring musicians ranging in age from 3 to 60, watching them struggle, experiment, grow, quit, return, discover who they are, and occasionally surprise themselves.

Those experiences fundamentally shaped his philosophy of music education.

Deeply influenced by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s love-based philosophy, Volkan believes talent isn’t reserved for a chosen few. It can be cultivated through the right environment, patience, discipline, curiosity, and care.

School of Sound is the culmination of that belief.

A place where classical craft meets modern creativity. A place where students learn not only how to play, but how to listen, experiment, create, and eventually discover something much harder to teach:

A sound that is unmistakably their own.