Born in Ankara in 2004, Derin Tokgül passed the entrance exam for the TRT Polyphonic Children’s Choir in 2010. In 2014, she was accepted on a scholarship into the Cello Department of the Bilkent University Music Preparatory Middle School, where she studied under Verda Çavuşoğlu. In 2019, Tokgül was awarded a full scholarship to the Luzerne Music Center in New York. She passed the solo performance auditions and gave concerts both as a soloist and with the orchestra.

In 2021, she was admitted to the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo, Belgium, where she received both a tuition and accommodation scholarship from the school and the Robus Foundation. Notably, this was the first time the Robus Foundation had awarded a scholarship to a non-Belgian student. During her time at Musica Mundi School, she studied with Jerome Pernoo and Claire Oppert.

In May 2024, Derin Tokgül performed Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos alongside her friend Haicing Yang, accompanied by the Orfeo Orchestra under the baton of Rick Ghesquiere. That same month, she had the honour of performing for King Albert, Queen Paola, and Princess Claire of Belgium at the Royal Palace of Laeken. She also took part in numerous solo, chamber music, and orchestral concerts at her school, Musica Mundi School.

Following her graduation from Musica Mundi School in June 2024, she was offered places for undergraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in the UK, as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Tokgül chose to continue her education at Royal Welsh, where she was awarded the institution’s highest international scholarship, covering the entirety of her undergraduate studies. She has been a student there since September 2024.