Gürer Aykal was born in 1942 at the Çifteler Village Institute in Eskişehir. He began his musical education at the Ankara State Conservatory, where he studied under Necdet Remzi Atak and graduated from the Violin Department in 1963. He later studied composition under Adnan Saygun and graduated from the Composition Department in 1969. In the same year, he received a government scholarship to study in England, where he attended the Guildhall School of Music in London, studying orchestral conducting with distinguished conductors such as André Previn and George Hurst. In 1972, he graduated with highest distinction from both the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music's Advanced Conducting Departments. He then went to Italy, where he received a conducting distinction from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and completed his studies at the Santa Cecilia Academy, serving as an assistant to Franco Ferrara. At the request of Adnan Saygun, he also pursued studies in Gregorian Choral Music and Renaissance Polyphony with Bartolucci at the Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra in the Vatican.
In 1975, Aykal was appointed Principal Conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. He later served as General Director of the State Opera and Ballet. Together with violinist Suna Kan, he co-founded the Ankara Chamber Orchestra, conducting over one hundred concerts both in Türkiye and abroad. He has given numerous concerts with leading European orchestras; conducted the English Chamber Orchestra on its South American and Caribbean Tour, and also served as conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra.
Alongside his artistic achievements, Gürer Aykal has pursued a distinguished academic path, serving as Professor of Orchestral Conducting both in Türkiye and abroad. He has taught advanced conducting at Indiana University (Bloomington), Texas Tech University, and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in the United States. He currently continues his teaching activities at Bilkent University and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory.
Having served sixteen years in the United States as conductor and general music director, Aykal was awarded an honorary professorship by the university affiliated with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, where he served as its permanent conductor and music director between 1991 and 2003. From 2000 to 2004, he undertook the task of founding and developing the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra.
In 1999, for his outstanding contributions to promoting modern Türkiye through music both nationally and internationally, he was selected as "Artist of the Year" by the Turkish Journalists' Association.
In May 2008, he was awarded Order of Merit of Finland for his contributions to strengthening cultural cooperation between Türkiye and Finland. In July of the same year, during a ceremony held in Rome as part of the Lazio Europe and Mediterranean Festival, he also received the International Performing Arts Achievement Award. At present, Gürer Aykal continues to serve as the Honorary Conductor of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, which he founded in 1999 and led as its Principal Conductor and General Music Director until September 2008.
