Master Sgt. Cagdas Donmezer is the pianist of the Concert Band. His Air Force career began in 2017 as staff arranger with the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California. Originally from Adana, Türkiye, he joined the The United States Air Force Band in Washington, DC in 2021.
Sgt. Donmezer is a 2011 graduate of the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, Austria, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. In 2013, he earned a diploma in film scoring and conducting from Berklee College of Music. In 2015, he received his Master of Arts in music composition degree from Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Sgt. Donmezer has performed as a soloist with many symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles. He has performed in prestigious venues such as the Vienna Musikverein and İş Sanat concert halls. In 2016, he performed over 275 concerts as resident pianist of the Lincoln Center Stage’s Piano Quintet. As a composer, Donmezer's works have been commissioned, recorded and performed by many soloists and award-winning chamber ensembles in the United States and abroad. He is also author of the book Humor, Witz und Überraschung in den Sinfonien von Joseph Haydn (Humor, Joke and Surprise Elements of Haydn’s Symphonies). His principal teachers include Fazil Say, Roland Batik, Alla Cohen, Mahir Cetiz and John McDonald.