Umut Sağlam, born in Ankara in 1998, started his cello education with Tufan Tahir Tolga at Hacettepe University State Conservatory in 2009 and continued with Dilbağ Tokay at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul State Conservatory between 2014-16. He was admitted to Berlin Barenboim-Said Academy with a scholarship in 2016 and in 2020, graduated from Professor Frans Helmerson’s class. Sağlam took part in festivals such as Istanbul Music Festival, Aurora Music Festival, Kronberg Cello Akademie, Ayvalık International Music Academy, Krzyżowa Music Festival, and Ysayé's Knokke. He has worked and performed with esteemed trainers and musicians such as Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andras Schiff, Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman, Daniel Müller-Schott, Peter Bruns, Maria Kliegel, Jens Peter Maintz and Alexander Rudin. In 2017, Sağlam was awarded the grand prize in İş Sanat’s Shining Stars Series and the Meriç Soylu Special Award. His other achievements include second prize in International Austrian and German Music Competition in Bulgaria, first prize in Young Virtuoso Competition in Italy, and first prize in the International Young Talents competition of Istanbul State Symphony. He won the first prize in the Soloist category of the Italy Gaetano Zinetti Music Contest, and the first prize in the Tremplin International Cello Contest in France.
At the invitation of the world-famous conductor Daniel Barenboim, Sağlam has been on tours with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra since 2018. He was one of the six cellists to participate in the special cello class, Classe d’excellence de Violoncelle, held at the Paris Louis Vuitton Foundation under the leadership of the well-known cellist Gautier Capuçon, in the 2019/20 season. Sağlam won the auditions of Konzerthaus Berlin Orchestra and became a member of Kurt-Sanderling Academy for the 2021-23 concert seasons, and was also awarded the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation Music Scholarship in the 2022-23 academic year. Since 2021, Umut Sağlam conducts his graduate studies with Professor Claudio Bohorquez at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.