Born in Ankara in 2002, Ece Canay began her violin studies in 2009 at the Antalya State Conservatory of Akdeniz University with Orhan Ahıskal. She later continued her studies with Ayşegül Tulumcu, Can Özhan and Guljahan Babayeva.

She has participated in masterclasses with internationally renowned violinists, including Serdar Erkmenis, Şeniz Aybulus, Olgu Kızılay, Esen Kıvrak, Mincho Minchev, Feruza Abdullayeva, Cihat Aşkın, Ildikó Moog, Mario Hossen, Robin Wilson, Hagai Shaham, Alexander Gheorghiu, Özcan Ulucan, Nancy Wu, Carmine Lauri and Rainer Küchl, both in Türkiye and abroad.

In 2017, she was awarded second prize at the Young Musician International Competition ‘Città di Barletta’ in Italy, and in 2019 she received first prize at the Viva Music International Competition of Classical Music. In the same year, she won the İş Sanat ‘Parlayan Yıldızlar’ auditions and gave a recital at the İstanbul Milli Reasürans Concert Hall. During the 2019–2020 academic year, she won the soloist auditions of the Hacettepe Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with various youth orchestras in Türkiye and internationally, including the Ankara Youth Symphony Orchestra, Agora Symphony Orchestra, Hacettepe Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Mozarteum University Salzburg Orchestra.

Ece Canay began her studies at the Ankara State Conservatory of Hacettepe University in 2016, initially working with András Santoro. During her secondary education, she continued her violin studies with Associate Professor Jülide Yalçın and completed her pre-university training under Professor Ceylan Kabakçı.

In 2021, she was admitted to the Mozarteum University Salzburg, where she completed her undergraduate studies in the class of Annelie Gahl. In 2023, she won the auditions for the Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (TUGFO), conducted by Cem Mansur, and performed in concerts held in İstanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia and Italy. Since 2021, she has been performing regularly with the Salzburg Philharmonic Orchestra; in 2024, she successfully passed the auditions to become a member of the orchestra’s academy and continues to perform actively with the ensemble.

In 2025, she was selected for Yehudi Menuhin – Live Music Now Salzburg and has since taken part in concerts organised by the foundation. In the same year, she served as concertmaster of the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra as part of the Tsinandali Festival, performing under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. She was invited again to the orchestra for the 2026 edition of the festival. In 2026, she was also selected to perform with her chamber music ensemble as part of Bilkent Music Days. In the same year, she was awarded a place as a soloist with the İzmir State Symphony Orchestra after successfully passing its Young Soloist Auditions.

She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the Mozarteum University Salzburg in the class of Professor Lily Francis, and continues to perform with chamber music ensembles and orchestras both in Türkiye and internationally.