Under Artistic Director & Principal Conductor Aram Gharabekian the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia (NCOA) will perform a concert on March 20, at 19:00 at Komitas Chamber music hall. Pianist Armen Babakhanian will join forces with NCOA in dazzling in its virtuosity and humor “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Dmitri Shostakovich and captivating “Piano Concerto” by Alfred Schnittke, dedicated to the composer’s 70th anniversary.

The program will also include World Premiere of NCOA commissioned work “Contours” by Suren Zakarian and the popular “Ancient Airs & Dances” by Ottorino Respighi.

For further information and tickets:
Call NCOA at (374 1) 52.67.18 or 58.95.14
e-mail: ncoa@arminco.com
www.ncoa.am

NCOA is sponsored by “Vatche & Tamar Manoukian” Benevolent Association

ARMEN BABAKHANIAN piano

A prize-winner at several of the world's most prestigious international piano competitions including the Leeds, the Van Cliburn, the Guardian Dublin, the William Kappell, the Gina Bachauer, and the World Piano Competition, Armen Babakhanian has captured the imagination of the audiences and the critics alike through the intensity and honesty of his performances.

Mr. Babakhanian has given recitals in the USA, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Spain. He has appeared as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Irish National Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra ( USA), Dallas Symphony, with Saint Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov, with Moscow Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev and Israel Philharmonic.

Festival appearances include the Aspen, Interlochen, Santander and Baalbec music festivals. Babakhanian’s performance of the Shostakovich Piano Quintet with the Takács Quartet during Santander Festival in Spain was named the best chamber music performance of the festival. Mr. Babakhanian has recorded for the ASV and Real Sound labels and his performances have been broadcast on BBC, PBS (USA), ORF (Austria) and RAI (Italy) television networks. His recent recording of the Tchaikovsky piano sonatas has received rave reviews in the European press.

In addition to his performing career, Mr. Babakhanian has served as jury member for several international piano competitions. Mr. Babakhanian is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, where he also received his musical education.