Kaya is the youngest First Prize winner in the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition with the Buffalo Philharmonic; one of two three-time prizewinners of the Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition, prizewinner of international guitar competitions including Sofia Bulgaria, Naxos Greece, Vienna, Istanbul, and throughout the United States, highlighted award winner in the Indiana International Guitar Competition, Boston Guitar Competition, Texas International Guitar Competition, Schadt String Competition,  and Philadelphia Guitar Competition. In May of 2017 he was awarded “Rising Young Musician of the Year” by the Donizettti Music Classical Awards in Istanbul.