Tolga Anlar, born in 2000 in Gaziantep, Türkiye, received his first musical training from his father before continuing his studies at the Istanbul University State Conservatory.

Since 2019, he has been studying percussion at the University of Music Karlsruhe with Prof. Isao Nakamura, Thomas Höfs, Jochen Brenner, and Hiromi Shigeno. In 2022/23, he completed an internship with the Philharmonisches Orchester der Stadt Trier and was a scholarship holder of the Orchesterakademie der Bergischen Symphoniker in 2023/24.

His artistic and academic interests focus on Janissary music, historical performance practice, and archival studies, with a particular focus on historical percussion and frame drums in early music. Since 2024, he continues his master studies with Prof. Vanessa Porter. In September 2025, Tolga Anlar joined the Musikschule Offenburg/Ortenau as a percussion instructor, where he also teaches frame drums and integrates historical percussion practices into his teaching.