The Dilijan Chamber Players

Transcription

1 CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES SAMUELI THEATER January 14, 2016 Thursday at 8 p.m. Preview talk by Armen Ksajikian at 7:15 p.m. The Dilijan Chamber Players Movses Pogossian, violin Varty Manouelian, violin Guillaume Sutre, viola Armen Ksajikian, cello Armen Guzelimian, piano Trio élégiaque No.1 in G minor (1892) SERGEI RACHMANINOFF ( ) String Quartet no. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108 Allegretto, attacca Lento, attacca Allegro Allegretto DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH ( ) INTERMISSION The Center applauds: Andante No. 3, from Seven Preludes, ALEXANDER NIKOLAYEVICH SCRIABIN Op. 17 ( ) ( ) Two Pieces, Op. 59 (1910) Poeme: Allegretto with grace and sweetness Prelude: Savage and bellicose Media Partner: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30 ( ) Introduzione. Adagio mesto allegro patetico Scherzo. Presto. Largo Finale. Allegro vivace SERGEY IVANOVICH TANEYEV ( ) Out of courtesy to the artists and your fellow patrons, please take a moment to turn off and refrain from using cellular phones, pagers, watch alarms and similar devices. The use of any audio or videorecording device or the taking of photographs (with or without flash) is strictly prohibited. Thank you. 1

2 About the ProGrAM SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Born April 1, 1873 in Semyonovo Died March 28, 1943 in Beverly Hills Trio élégiaque No.1 in G minor (1892) Sergei Rachmaninoff s words best sum up the attitude he adopted towards his own compositions: I have never tried to be consciously original, romantic, nationalistic or anything else in my own compositions. I simply write down the music that I hear in my mind, as naturally as possible. I am a Russian composer, and so the country of my birth has influenced my temperament and my attitude to life. My music is a result of my temperament, and only therefore Russian. Rachmaninoff s highly personal, frankly emotional musical language was completely established in 1893, the year after he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory (he and his classmate Alexander Scriabin received gold medals) having already composed the first of his three operas, Aleko, the original version of his Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 1 premiered a year earlier, and the piano pieces of Op. 3 Morceaux de fantaisie, of which the second, the ubiquitous C-sharp minor Prélude was to make him world famous. Beginning with the 1889 String Quartet and ending with the Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, Op. 19 (1901), Rachmaninoff s interest in chamber music was restricted to the first twelve years of his creative life. His two remarkable piano trios, both entitled Trio élégiaque were composed within a year of each other, when Rachmaninoff was 19 and 20 years of age respectively. Although the first Trio contains traces of Tchaikovsky s influence, as yet not fully assimilated, both prove how early his musical language was his own. Rachmaninoff composed the first of his two Elegiac Trios in the short span of four days from January 18 21, 1892, for inclusion in his first formal public concert which took place on the 30th of the same month, at the Vostriakov Hall in Moscow. The trio was performed with the violinist David Kreyn, the cellist Anatole Brandukov and the composer at the piano. In addition to solo piano repertoire by Chopin, Liszt and Tchaikovsky, the program also included Rachmaninoff s Two Pieces, Op. 2 for cello and piano, which were dedicated to Brandukov. The short and contemplative Trio élégiaque in G minor is highly characteristic and already shows traits of the more mature composer to come in its plaintive melodic lines and tight harmonic framework. The work is cast in a single sonata form movement, firmly grounded in the Classical tradition as exemplified in Russia by Tchaikovsky. Against a rustling string accompaniment, the piano presents the main theme of the work. The theme is repeated once more by the cello and the violin alternately, supported by an arpeggiated figure on the piano. After a transitional passage on the piano, the violin presents the first half of the melancholic second theme, followed by the cello. As the music becomes more agitated and passionate, the two themes are developed, often conflicting with one another. The recapitulation circumvents the initial statement of the theme by the piano, as the cello once more presents the main theme in its unadorned state, closely followed by the violin. After a short coda in which the main theme assumes the character of a funeral march, the G minor Trio comes to its quiet conclusion Ileen M. Zovluck DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Born September 25, 1906 in St. Petersburg Died August 9, 1975 in Moscow Andante No. 3, from Seven Preludes, Op. 17 ( ) Two Pieces, Op. 59 (1910) Poème: Allegretto with grace and sweetness Prélude: Savage and bellicose Hardly any composer s work has generated as much controversy as that of Alexander Scriabin. During the years immediately preceding World War I, along with Stravinsky and Schoenberg, he was regarded as one of music s most revolutionary figures. Alexander Scriabin entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1888, where he studied under Taneyev, Safonov and Arensky and graduated in 1892 with the second gold medal in piano (the first being won by his fellow student and close friend Rachmaninoff). He then toured extensively throughout Europe as a concert pianist, and in 1898 was appointed professor of piano at the Conservatory. Having composed sporadically starting in 1883, from 1903 until his death he devoted his life entirely to composition. Beginning as a disciple of the Romantic school, he made a smooth transition from Impressionism to Futurism. Scriabin is the most representative composer of the Russian Silver Age, one of the most remarkable periods in the development of human culture. He was inarguably one of 2

3 the most unusual Russian composers and was a rare innovator of music. After 1918, and continuing through the early 1960s, Scriabin s music was virtually neglected in its entirety. Only keyboard giants like Lhevine, Horowitz and Richter would play his piano music. A few conductors like Koussevitsky, Mengelberg and Stokowski continued performing the Fourth Symphony, better known as The Poem of Ecstasy, and occasionally the Fifth Symphony, subtitled Prometheus: The Poem of Fire. Then with the advent of multimedia performances in the 1960s, Scriabin s works began to garner recognition once again. While multi-media extravagance soon faded away in the 1970s, Scriabin s music has managed to hold on to its claim as part of the repertoire of virtuoso orchestras. The influence evidenced in his keyboard music especially the early works is definitely that of Chopin, whose spirit continued to hover over him as he began to strike out more and more boldly along individual lines of compositional technique. He soon developed a markedly personal style, which also shows traces of folksong inspiration and the nationalist idiom of the Russian Five. Scriabin passed through clearly defined phases which came as a natural sequence in his creative evolution. The first compositional period of Scriabin includes Opp The piano writing of Scriabin is skillful. As a young adult, he made a departure from his Chopinesque influences, gradually changing his harmonic idiom. The music from his first published compositions of the 1890s took on a fresh and somewhat mysterious and ecstatic character as he developed a highly original harmonic system. His melodic idiom also became very distinctive, particularly in the use of upward leaps. His rhythms became complex. Powerful expression became a notable feature in his works, and his climaxes are often remarkable. In 1895, Scriabin promised his friend and publisher Mitrofan Belyayev that he would submit 48 preludes that year. He sent 24, which appeared as Opp. 13, 15 and 17. Scriabin wrote six of these preludes in Paris: Op. 11 Nos. 8 and 22, Op. 15 No. 4 and Op. 17 Nos he Prelude Op. 17/3 included in today s performance is a black key study which makes no distinction between its melody and harmony. As an early example of early continental impressionism, both melody and harmony are created from a single sonority. Scriabin s voice here is now authentic. These Parisian pieces contrast strikingly with another hymnody of preludes the chorales composed in the Russian winters of , which are highly religious. The Paris preludes are secular. Scriabin devoted most of the year 1910 to the mechanical task of copying the score of Prometheus (1911), which left very little time for composing. His only output for that year were the fragmentary Poème and Prélude of Op. 59. The two pieces marked the beginning of his early post-tonal period, and the composer s development towards his later style from the Feuillet d album op.58 onwards was seamless. The brief Poème in 6/8 meter readily traces the very clear connection between the earlier and later compositional practices of Scriabin. The Allegro Prélude, also in 6/8 shows the composer to be hesitating on the brink of the Promethean and harmonic method. Several years earlier, Scriabin made plans for the writing of a Misteriya, which was to accomplish a synthesis in which the impressions of the senses were to be reunited with religious experience. Only the text of a preliminary poem, L Acte préalable, was completed at his death. Scriabin died on April 14, 1915 from sepsis caused by a tumor on his lip, with the manuscript containing sketches for the Misteriya open on his piano. ALEXANDER NIKOLAYEVICH SCRIABIN Born January 6, 1872 in Moscow Died April 27, 1915 in Moscow String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108 Shostakovich s fame is attributed to his 15 symphonies, however, he also devoted considerable attention to chamber music. The composer s chamber works added much originality of art and style to contemporary music and constitute an innovative phenomenon which deserves the description of modern classicism. Beginning with the series of string quartets, Shostakovich s chamber music contains his innermost thoughts and feelings and are judged by many critics to be among the towering accomplishments of twentieth century music. Throughout his lifetime Shostakovich went in and out of favor with the Soviet authorities, even if his loyalties were unquestioned. His opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District had been internationally recognized as a masterpiece yet in a 1936 editorial entitled Chaos Instead of Music, Pravda denounced the score as fidgety, screaming, neurotic, and as coarse, primitive and vulgar. This assault, to which many fellow composers contributed, was meant as a warning against modernism, formalism and other perceived transgressions against socialist realism. One year later he was declared rehabilitated upon the premiere of the Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, which was deservedly hailed as a masterpiece 3

4 4 and described by the authorities as the creative reply of a Soviet artist to justified criticism. In 1948, he was named a People s Artist of the Republic of Russia, only to be again denounced that same year. He was eventually named Composer Laureate of the Soviet Union. Shostakovich, unlike Beethoven and Bartók for example, was quite content with the quartet medium as it stood; he never attempted to expand its expressive and technical resources. Instead, he strived to achieve a greater refinement and simplicity of texture. The String Quartet No. 7, Op. 108 was written in 1960 and bears a dedication in memory of the composer s first wife, Nina Vasilyevna. It is said that her death was the initial cause for the composer s change of style, as he turned inward and his music became more introspective. The brief and original Seventh Quartet contains many clues to Shostakovich s later style of composition, particularly in terms of sound and color. The striving for a simpler, almost rarified texture is quite apparent in this work as passages of reduced instrumentation (often for solo instruments) are as abundant as those in which all four instruments are playing. The first movement, Allegretto, contains two main themes immediately heard in the exposition; both themes are fully worked out in a short development section; in the recapitulation, the grotesque first theme is treated freshly in a triple meter and is played pizzicato. The entire second movement, Lento, with the exception of six bars, is written in two or three parts only; in the only other passage where all four instruments play together, the viola and cello are doubled at the octave. Structurally, an arch form is revealed as the third movement, Allegro, employs thematic material from the first movement, in particular the Allegretto s first theme. A relentlessly wild fugue is followed by a strange waltz-like episode employing the fugue s principal melody, which in turn is derived from a viola accompaniment figure from the end of the second movement. SERGEY IVANOVICH TANEYEV Born November 25, 1856 in District of Vladimir Died June 19, 1915 in District of Dyudkovo, Zvenigorodsk Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30 ( ) Sergey Taneyev began taking piano lessons at the age of 5 and entered the Moscow Conservatory when he was only 9. After a year of academic training, he re-entered the conservatory as a piano student of Eduard Langer and received theory instruction from Nikolai Hubert. Shortly thereafter, he became the favored composition student of Tchaikovsky, which evolved into a lifelong friendship. In 1871, Nikolai Rubinstein became his piano mentor. Taneyev graduated from the Conservatory in 1875 as the first student to win the gold medal in both performance and composition. On December 3, 1875, he was soloist in the Moscow premiere of Tchaikovsky s First Piano Concerto and subsequently was the soloist for all of Tchaikovsky s works for piano and orchestra. Tchaikovsky regarded Taneyev as one of the finest interpreters of his music, and by 1878, he had succeeded Tchaikovsky as professor of harmony and orchestration at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1881 following the death of Rubinstein, he took over his classes as well. In 1883, he succeeded Hubert as professor of composition. After serving as the conservatory director from , he taught counterpoint from Taneyev was a first-rate pianist, but his position as a composer is an anomaly: Heis one of the most respected figures of Russian music history, and there is a growing literature on him. His correspondence and all documents concerning his life, however trivial, are treated as part of the Russian cultural heritage. Yet, outside of Russia, his works are rarely heard. The style of Taneyev s works presents a compromise between Russian melodic tradition and Germanic contrapuntal writing. Taneyev was sometimes referred to, somewhat unfittingly, as the Russian Brahms. Like Brahms, he did not by composing the whole out of the separate successive parts, but by going from the whole to the details, as Taneyev himself said. And unlike Brahms, his unique composing strategy was assured to set him apart from Brahms, and even most any other composer. The Piano Quintet of 1911 is a very long piece, and the extended instrumentation allows for composing for the strings alone as well as a broader textural potential. The Quintet begins with a long, slow introduction containing fragments of the thematic material from the body of the first movement. This introduction and Adagio is a massive sonata form and challenges the listener up to the recapitulation and coda, where the piano introduces a pattern of six bass notes, played twice. The Scherzo is a remarkable and masterful contrast to the first movement, with its speedy rhythmic patterns and piquant refinement. This is followed by an equally contrasting central trio section, whose beautiful melody is the perfect departure from the Scherzo. The third movement, marked Largo, is an equally exquisite slow passacaglia. The Largo is one of the composer s finest creations. It is built on a theme of a descending scale with two small rhythmic insertions. This theme is repeated more than forty times, mainly in the bass, with Taneyev weaving his own theme both above and around it. The Finale revisits many of the Quintet s earlier themes. One of these themes is extensively repeated at the end of the Moderato, thereby framing the entire Quintet. A grand coda displaying the talents of five soloists closes this impressive work Ileen M. Zovluck Ileen M. Zovluck is a freelance annotator, musicologist and classical guitar teacher living in the greater NYC area, specializing in commentary and analysis of chamber and instrumental music performance.

5 About the Artists The Dilijan Chamber Players Movses Pogossian Violinist Movses Pogossian made his acclaimed American debut performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in 1990, about which Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe wrote: There is freedom in his playing, but also taste and discipline. It was a fiery, centered, and highly musical performance... Pogossian has since performed with orchestras such as the Brandenburger Symphoniker and the Halle Philharmonic in Germany, the Sudety Philharmonic in Poland, the Tucson Symphony, the El Paso Symphony, the Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York, and the Toronto Sinfonia. His recent and upcoming performances include recitals in New York, Boston and Ann Arbor, and concerts in Korea, Japan, Germany, Armenia, and Cyprus. He is a prizewinner of the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Competition, and the youngest-ever first prize winner of the 1985 USSR National Violin Competition, previous winners of which included David Oistrakh and Gidon Kremer. An active chamber musician, Pogossian has performed with members of the Tokyo, Kronos, and Brentano string quartets, and with such artists as Kim Kashkashian, Jeremy Denk, Ani and Ida Kavafian, and Rohan de Saram. He also frequently collaborates with the Apple Hill Chamber Players, teaching annually at their summer music festival in New Hampshire. Movses Pogossian is the founder and artistic of the critically acclaimed Dilijan Chamber Music Series, which performs at Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles, and is currently in its seventh season. A committed propagate of new music, Pogossian has premiered more than 50 works, and works closely with composers such as G. Kurtag, A. R. Thomas, T. Mansurian, V. Sharafyan, and A. Avanesov. His newly formed duo with remarkable Japanese percussionist Kuniko Kato has commissioned several works for this unusual medium, successfully performed during the recent tour of Japan. In Los Angeles, Pogossian frequently performs on Monday Evening Concerts, and is the recipient of the 2011 Forte Award from Jacaranda, given for outstanding contributions to the promotion of new music and modern music. In July of 2008, he made his debut at the Darmstadt Festival in Germany. His discography includes Blooming Sounds, a solo violin CD of World Premiere recordings, and Thoughts and Dreams with the Baird Trio, both on Albany label, as well as 2009 release of G. Kurtag s Kafka Fragments for soprano and violin on Bridge label, which includes a unique video documentary on the work with the composer, and a DVD of an unedited live performance. In his review of the recording, Paul Griffiths writes:...remarkable is Pogossian s contribution, which is always beautiful, across a great range of colors and gestures, and always seems on the edge of speaking-or beyond. Current recording projects include an all- Schoenberg CD/DVD for Bridge Records, recorded at Schoenberg s Brentwood home; a violin/cello duo CD with Rohan de Saram, featuring the Kodaly Duo, and several new works by Armenian and Cypriot composers; and In Nomine, a solo violin CD of world premiere recordings of Kurtag, Mansurian, 5

6 6 Avanesov, and music by Prokofiev, released in October 2011 on Albany Records. Since earning his advanced degrees from the Komitas Conservatory in Armenia and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, Pogossian has held teaching positions at Duquesne, Bowling Green, Wayne State, and SUNY Buffalo Universities. His principal teachers were L. Zorian, V. Mokatsian, V. Klimov, and legendary Louis Krasner. Deeply committed to musical education, Pogossian is currently Professor of Violin at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and is in demand for masterclasses and residencies in the USA and abroad. He resides in Glendale, California with his wife, Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Varty Manouelian, and their three young children. Varty Manouelian Varty Manouelian made her American debut in 1993 with the North Carolina Symphony as First Prize winner of the Bryan International Competition. She has also been a prizewinner at a number of other competitions, including Kotzian International Competition in Czechoslovakia, Performers of Connecticut, and Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland. Manouelian has recorded and appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras in the United States, Bulgaria, the former Soviet Union, Poland, Spain and Italy. Her chamber music performances include participation at the Marlboro Music Festival, the El Paso Festival, and the Olympic Music Festival, among others. She has collaborated with Bruno Canino, Garrick Ohlsson, Nobuko Imai, Thomas Ades, and members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, Tokyo, Brentano, Borromeo, and Mendelssohn string quartets. She spends her summers performing and teaching chamber music with her husband, Movses Pogossian, and their three young and restless children, Eddie, Cara, and Anoush, at Apple Hill and Sebago Festivals. Since joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2004, Manouelian has frequently performed at Philharmonic s Chamber Music and Green Umbrella Series, as well as at Camerata Pacifica and Dilijan Series. Manouelian holds degrees from the State Music Academy in Bulgaria and the Cleveland Institute of Music where she was a student of Donald Weilerstein. Guillaume Sutre Guillaume Sutre began his studies in Douai, France; he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at age 14. As a student of Gérard Poulet and Jean-Claude Pennetier, he was awarded first prize in both violin and in chamber music. After finishing his studies in France, he attended Indiana University at Bloomington to study with Josef Gingold, Franco Gulli, Menahem Pressler, and Janos Starker. He then studied in Cologne with the Amadeus Quartet. He was only 18 years old when he won first prize in the International Violin Competition, A. Curci, in Napoli; the International Piano- Trio ARD Competition in Munich; and the International Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana. Subsequently, he was invited to play in numerous festivals, including Stresa, la Roque d Anthéron, Wigmore Hall, Teatro San Carlo in Napoli, Berlin Philharmonie, Musikverein, Vienna, Hong-Kong Festival, Beijing Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, University of California at Los Angeles and Théâtre des Champs- Elysées. His motivation to meet musicians from all continents led him to travel to more unusual destinations such as Addis Ababa Conservatory, Ethiopia, Opéra of Manaus, Brazil, le Grand Théatre d Hanoï, Vietnam, and Fondation Bolipata, Philippines. Very early in his career, he was attracted to chamber music. With the great influence of Jean-Claude Pennetier, he became impassioned by the deep work of chamber music. In 1986, he founded the Trio Wanderer; ten years later he joined the Ysaye Quartet. His vast repertoire more than 400 works performed featured all the chamber music works of Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Ravel, and all 68 Haydn quartets. His collaborators are: his wife Kyung-Hee Kim, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Michaela Martin, Pascal Rogé, Michel Portal, Nicolas Angelich, Jean- Claude Pennetier, Roland Pidoux, Antonio Lysy, Gauthier Capuçon, and Wolfgang Meyer. In addition to performing chamber music, Sutre has also been engaged as a soloist by the Orchestra of Montpellier, l Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Berlin-Radio Orchestra, the Göttingen Symphonic Orchestra, l Orchestre de Bretagne, l Orchestre d Auvergne, the Franz Liszt Orchestra of Budapest, and performed with conductors such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Louis Langrée, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach, Stefan Sanderling, David Robertson, and Sheldon Morgenstern. His recordings for Sony Classical, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, Naïve, Aeon, and Ysaÿe Records received the highest distinctions in France and internationally. These recordings include: the complete quartets and quintets of Gabriel Fauré, with pianist Pascal Rogé; André Boucourechliev s string quartet, Haydn s Last Seven Words of Christ, with Michel Serres s unpublished texts; and Bruch s double concerto with the Orchestre de Bretagne. The live recording of the complete duets of Haydn and Mozart was met with critical acclaim and are considered definitive. In addition, he is a passionate defender of the music of his time, regularly performing premieres of such composers as Michele Reverdy, Isabelle Fraisse, Regis Campo, and Paul Chihara. His life as a musician could not find its full bloom without sharing his knowledge and concert experience with musicians of the younger generation. Since 1995, he has been a professor of violin, specializing in the practice of the string quartet, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris. As a visiting professor at the academies of Villecroze, Nice, Flaine, Aldeburgh, Eastern Music Festival, University of Southern California, and in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he has given master classes in both chamber music as well as solo violin. In 1994, the SACEM awarded him the prestigious George Enesco prize. In 1999 he was named Chevalier of the Order of Arts and the Letters. Sutre plays a 1738 Italian violin made by Gregorio Antoniazzi, as well as an 1815 François Lupot bow. He is currently Professor of Violin at UCLA. Armen Ksajikian Widely hailed as one of the GREATEST cellists in North-Central Eagle Rock! And rapidly gaining a high reputation on BOTH sides of the Atlantic.boulevard, Armen Ksajikian is NOT exactly your garden-variety cellist. Admired as much for his artistry and as for his sense of humor, Armen Ksajikian joined LACO as associate principal cello in the season.

7 He started out his professional career at age 12 with the Abkhazian State Philharmonic in the former Soviet Union. Since 1976, Armen has been very active in LA s musical life, working with such notables as Heifetz, Rostropovich, Van Cliburn, Pavarotti, Rosza, Giulini, Baryshnikov, Cage, Mancini, Corea, Dudamel, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Newman, Zubin Mehta and James Cameron, and with groups such as the Eagles, Incubus, System Of A Down, and with the Duke Ellington, Dancing with the Stars and Academy Awards orchestras. Armen has appeared as a soloist with the Nacional Orchestre du Brazil, Pacific Symphony, and Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles Chamber orchestras, and regularly subs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is a member of several ensembles including The Catgut trio, The Rio Trio, California String Quartet and the award-winning Armadillo String Quartet, with whom he performed Haydn s complete string quartets in a 34 ½ hour marathon. He made his Carnegie Hall debut premiering a quartet by PDQ Bach in 1999 and has appeared in the Cabrillo, Colorado, Banff, Sitka Summer, Oregon Bach, High Desert, Park City and Venice Film festivals; the Rio International Cello Encounter and Jasper Festival of Music and Wine. In 1993, Armen made his limousinedriving debut in James Cameron s True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. Also a busy recording musician he has more than 1,100 movies to his credit Armen played his own death scene in the movie. Armen s performances in less conventional venues include 16-day whitewater tours down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, concerts for grizzlies inside a clarifier tank of an old pulp in Sitka, Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro and at Neverland Ranch. He is particularly proud to have soloed with the Hiland Mountain Women s String Orchestra at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. Armen Guzelimian Armen Guzelimian s distinguished career enjoys national and international acclaim for his versatility as a top-ranking collaborative artist, a first-rate virtuoso soloist in his own right, and a sought-after master vocal coach. For one of his numerous guest appearances in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber music concerts, Los Angeles Times Music Critic Mark Swed wrote: Guzelimian was understated but superbly detailed and magisterially musical... he is a chamber music master who contributed just the kind of support that makes everyone sound better. He has the discipline and authority that makes freedom possible and responsible, that makes the best chamber music serve as a grand model for society. Guzelimian has appeared with the LA Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, California Chamber Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Nebraska Chamber 0rchestra, American Youth Symphony among others. He has performed at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Steamboat Springs Chamber Music Festival, Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival, San Luis Obispo Music Festival, Aspen Festival and school. In March of 2014 year he made his Disney Hall debut performing with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in June he performed as soloist with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra conducted by Michael Feinstein. The pianist has partnered such luminaries as Viktoria Mullova, Thomas Zehetmair, Miraim Fried, Kim Kashkashian, Lars Tomter, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Hampson, Lucia Popp, Rod Gilfry and Peter Schreier. Other chamber music partners include the Rossetti String Quartet, Angeles Quartet, the Spokane Quartet. Guzelimian has performed in many of the major music capitals of the world London, Paris, Vienna, Brussels and most of the major concert halls in the United States. Guzelimian has diverse recordings on the EMI, Angel, Teldec, Nonesuch, Delos, Crystal and Orion labels. He and Michael Feinstein recorded an album of WWI songs for Angel records. The pianists s latest recording of solo piano music by Armenian composers is now available on CD Baby and Amazon. Many of his performances have been heard nationally on the NPR and other radio networks, and he can be seen performing on the Classic Arts Showcase on PBS as well as in director Peter Rosen s documentary Shadows in Paradise that was aired throughout Europe in 2008 and on PBS. The pianist made his silver screen debut in Robert Altman s Short Cuts. In the realm of contemporary music, Guzelimian has had the great fortune of working with/performing in the presence of such great composers as Aram Khachaturian, Alan Hovhaness, Witold Lutoslawski, Tigran Mansurian. He is honored to have had piano music composed for him by Thomas Pasatieri and Byron Adams. As an inspiring educator, the pianist has been on the faculties of Music Academy of the West, Thornton School of Music at USC, with guest residencies at the Eastman School of Music, Loyola University of New Orleans, University of Maryland, Aspen School. He is in demand for master classes across the nation, as well as adjudicator for piano and vocal competitions. 7