Rengim Gökmen started his music education at a very early age under the supervision of his mother, soprano Muazzez Gökmen, and went on to study piano and composition at the Ankara State Conservatoire with Ferhunde Erkin, Nimet Karatekin, İlhan Baran, and Ahmed Adnan Saygun. Upon graduation, he was sent to Italy by the Turkish government to further his studies.

Rengim Gökmen studied conducting as Franco Ferrara’s student first at the Santa Cecilia Conservatoire and then at the Chigiana Academy in Siena and Santa Cecilia National Academy, graduating with high honours from all three schools. After furthering his studies in Austria, England, and the Netherlands, Gökmen won the Gino Marinuzzi International Conducting Competition in San Remo in 1980, a great success which put him on the international podium, conducting orchestras throughout Europe and in the USA and South America.

Rengim Gökmen served as the Ankara State Opera and Ballet General Music Director between 1984 and 1989 and as the State Opera and Ballet General Director first between 1992 and 1995 and then between 2007 and 2014. During his tenures as General Director, Gökmen launched the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival and the Istanbul International Opera Festival. He was the İzmir State Symphony Orchestra Music Director between 1991 and 2006, during which he conducted numerous concerts, recorded many albums, and toured both home and abroad.

Rengim Gökmen was honoured with the State Artist title in Turkey and with a Cavalleria medal in Italy, both in 1998. He received the Turkish Presidency Culture and Arts Grand Award in 1999.

Rengim Gökmen is currently the music director of the Presidential State Symphony Orchestra and founder/principal conductor of the Doğuş Children’s Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as the supervisor of the İzmir Karşıyaka Municipality Chamber Orchestra, which was founded in 2015 and teaches conducting at the Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatoire.