Köksal was born and grew up in Bursa, Turkey and attended Bilkent University"s Faculty of Music and Performing Arts in Ankara from 1989 to 1996, where she earned her bachelor"s degree in music theory and composition, studying under the supervision of Bujor Hoinic.
From 1996 to 2002 she lived in Cologne, Germany, where she studied composition with Krzysztof Meyer and theory with Johannes Schild, earning a Diplom Musikerin from the Hochschule für Musik Kölane In 2004, she matriculated into the doctoral program at the University of Chicago, where she has studied with Marta Ptaszynska and Shulamit Ran. She is currently completing her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago.
In 2002 she returned to Bilkent University, where she taught composition for three years. Foreign the 2010-2011 academic year she was Visiting Professor of Theory and Composition at the University of Pittsburgh. Her oeuvre ranges from solo to orchestral works and is informed by the gestural and timbral concerns of Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, and fellow composers of her generation.
Köksal"s honors include: Nominated for the Festival Pablo Casals Third International Composers Competition, France (2009) Third prize at the Sixth Concours International de Composition Henri Dutilleux (2008) Regional awards of the Service Civil International/American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Student Composition Competition (2006, 2007, 2008) Finalist at the Second International Composer"s Competition, Reggello, Italy (2005) Second prize at the Third International Deutsche-Polnische Kompositions Wettbewerb, Köln (1998) Century Fellowship and Mellon Dissertation Year Fellowship (declined) from the University of Chicago She has participated in master classes by Peter Eötvös, Salvatore Sciarrino, Augusta Read Thomas, and David Felder. Her music has been performed throughout Europe and America at festivals such as the Fertile Crescent Festival (Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton University), Young Composers in New Music (Detmold), Turkkfest (London), Toronto Summer Music Festival, Forum Neuer Musik (Cologne), June in Buffalo Festival, Centre Acanthes (Metz), Via Stellae Festival (Spain), and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany). The prominent performers and ensembles who have featured her music include Derek Bermel, Benjamin Reissenberger, International Ensemble Modern Academy, Pacifica Quartet, eighth blackbird, Penderecki String Quartet, Ensemble Calliopée, Orchestre Nationale de Lorraine, Arditti String Quartet, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s 10/10 Ensemble, Ensemble Fire-Wire, Dafô Quartet, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Hezarfen Ensemble, and Vertixe Sonora Ensemble.
