Illya Amar studied classical percussion at the Conservatoire supérieur de Paris-CNR with Frederique Macarez. It was as a vibraphonist that he then began a jazz program at the Montreuil Conservatory, where he won a first prize in 2004 as part of the Dos Soles trio. 

He occasionally plays with the Carpe Diem ensemble alongside Jean pierre Arnaud, Beatrice Uria-Monzon, Emanuelle Bertrand... (tour of the enchanted flute in summer 2011) and with the baroque ensemble fuoco i cenere (dir. Jay Bernfeld) at Berlioz festivals, Radio France, Montpellier, Les folles journées de Nantes...  

During a long stay in India in 2001, Illya discovered Rajasthan's traditional tablas and folk instruments, which he studied with Maesh Dalvi and Gazi Khan Barna Manganyar respectively. Upon his return he became particularly interested in world music. He then began a collaboration with the Brazilian singer Aline de Lima and the Vietnamese singer Huong Thanh (toured Mexico in 2007). 

He co-founded the trio Dos Soles with the Argentine flautist Matias Marcipar and the Slovak cellist Ladislav Szathmary, whose first CD was released in October 2006 on ICI label.

At the same time, he developed his career as a jazzman, collaborating in particular with the guitarist Nguyen Lê (recorded on Bakida, the soundtrack of the film: Sheitan...)

He is a member of his quintet: Song of freedom whose album, released in April 2011 (with Youn Sun Na, David Linx, David Binney...) has been acclaimed by European critics.

Illya has multiplied collaborations by working with artists such as: Linley Marthe, Stephane Galland, Chander Serdjoe, Daniel Casimir, Furio Di Castri, Alain Vankenhove, Nicolas Genest, Julien Lallier, Sébastien Brun, Antoine Berjeaut...

In another style, he collaborates with the singer Fanch, in different projects of rock, French song, theatre music or street arts (creation of 2 records: Fanch and Amedée colère).

Illya is a 2009 winner of the Strade del Cinema competition in Turin and has been working on Charlie Chaplin's film since then, with the musical creation of three films from the 1920s.