Armenian Violin: 11 Names Resounding Around the World
One of the founders of the legendary Komitas Quartet and a prominent representative of the 20th-century Armenian violin school.
Avet Gabrielyan (1908–1989) graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, taught in Yerevan and Moscow, and performed with outstanding pianists such as Goldenweiser, Neuhaus, Igumnov, and Merzhanov.
A People’s Artist of the Armenian SSR and the USSR, and a laureate of the State Prize of the Armenian SSR, he had a tremendous influence on the development of chamber music.
Today, Music School No. 12 in Yerevan bears his name.
Anahit Tsitsikyan
Anahit Tsitsikyan (1926-1999) was a prominent Armenian violinist, musicologist, teacher, and founder of musical archeology in Armenia. During her lifetime, she gave over 1,000 concerts, recorded dozens of works, and wrote over 300 scholarly articles.
Tsitsikyan taught at the Yerevan Conservatory, inaugurating new courses on the history of bowed violin performance and Armenian musical tradition. Her lectures and presentations at international conferences impressed with the breadth of her knowledge and mastery of languages.
The music of contemporary Armenian composers held a special place in her work: Anahit often premiered their works, edited them, and participated in the creation of new ones. An 18th-century violin by Antonio Graniani and a François Tourte bow enabled Tsitsikyan to create a powerful, warm sound that easily transcends a symphony orchestra. Her teaching legacy lives on today: her students continue to develop the traditions of Armenian bowing.
Jean Ter-Merguerian
Jean Ter-Merguerian (1935-2015) was one of the outstanding Armenian violinists of the 20th century.
He won first prize in violin at the Marseille Conservatory at age 11 and gave his first solo concert that same year, performing concertos by Vivaldi and Mendelssohn.
Ter-Merguerian is a laureate of prestigious international competitions, including the Prague Spring, Tchaikovsky, Queen Elizabeth, and Jacques Thibaud.
He taught at the Yerevan Komitas Conservatory, while simultaneously performing solo concerts in the former Soviet Union, Western Europe, South America, the United States, and Canada. His solo performances were accompanied by orchestras under renowned conductors, including Aram Khachaturian, who conducted his own violin concerto. Ter-Mergeryan also served on the jury of international competitions: Paganini (Italy), Sarasate (Spain), and Tchaikovsky (Moscow). While living in France, he gave master classes both in the country and abroad, passing on violin school traditions to new generations.
Hrachya Bogdanyan
Hrachya Bogdanyan (1913–1987) was a distinguished Armenian violinist, teacher, and Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR.
He graduated from the Yerevan and Moscow Conservatories and was first violinist of the Spendiaryan Quartet, with which he performed throughout the Soviet Union.
From 1940, he taught at the Yerevan Conservatory, and from 1957, he became a professor.
He also made a significant contribution to the development of the Armenian violin repertoire, preparing and editing collections of pieces by Armenian composers.
His name is associated with an entire era in Armenian music education.
Ruben Aharonyan
Ruben Aharonyan (born 1947 in Riga) is a distinguished Armenian violinist, teacher, and conductor.
He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Professor Abram Yankelevich, and then advanced his career under Leonid Kogan.
Aharonyan is a laureate of the George Enescu International Competition (Bucharest) and the P. I. Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow).
For twenty years, he taught at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory and toured throughout Europe, North America, and South America.
From 1983 to 1996, he was the principal conductor and artistic director of the State Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, with which he also performed as a soloist.
He has recorded numerous discs, including works by Mozart with the same orchestra.
Since 1996, he has been a member of the legendary Borodin Quartet, with which he continues to perform frequently on leading international stages.
Eduard Tadevosyan
Eduard Tadevosyan (born 1947) is a People’s Artist of Armenia, artistic director of the Komitas National Quartet, and professor at the Yerevan Conservatory.
He studied at the Yerevan School of Music and under Professor Leonid Kogan at the Moscow Conservatory. While still a schoolboy, he won a prize at the Transcaucasian Young Musicians Competition (1965).
He is a laureate of the international competitions “Henryk Wieniawski” (Poznan, 1967), “Marguerite Long,” and “Jacques Thibaud” (Paris, 1969). In 1967, he began his concert career as a solo violinist.
In 1970, he joined the Komitas Quartet as second violinist, and in 1976, he became first violinist and leader of the ensemble.
He has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. He continues to actively combine concert activity with teaching, passing on his skills to new generations.
Willi Mokatsyan
Willi Mokatsyan (1932–1997) was a prominent Armenian violinist and teacher, and an Honored Artist of Armenia.
After graduating from the Yerevan Music School and Conservatory under Professor Hrachya Bogdayants, he became a member of the string quartet and concertmaster of the symphony orchestra.
He actively taught at the conservatory and music school, nurturing a new generation of Armenian violinists. His students have won international and national competitions.
Notably, Arno Babajanyan dedicated his famous violin concerto to Willy Mokatsyan, who became the only performer of the composer’s complete violin works in Armenia. This is the best testimony to his talent and professional authority.
Karen Harutyunyan
Karen Harutyunyan (born 1956) is an Armenian violinist of international standing and a laureate of Soviet and international competitions.
He graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (class of Leonid Kogan) and completed his postgraduate studies there. He has performed in the former USSR and Europe, collaborating with conductors such as M. Shostakovich, G. Rozhdestvensky, V. Gergiev, and A. Dimitriadi.
In 1989, he founded and directed the chamber ensemble “Armenian Virtuosos,” with which he gave numerous concerts and recorded albums. During a concert tour in Belgium, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Brussels, and all proceeds from his concerts were donated to the victims of the Spitak earthquake. Since 1993, he has lived and worked in Belgium, teaching at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and Liège, and by invitation in Monaco and Nice. He continues to actively perform and teach, participating in charitable projects supporting Armenian educational institutions in Europe.
Sergey Khachatryan
Sergey Khachatryan (born 1985) is a new-generation Armenian violinist and laureate of prestigious international competitions.
In November 2000, he first received international recognition, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the International Sibelius Competition in Helsinki. In 2005, Khachatryan won the Queen Elisabeth International Competition.
He actively participates in music festivals, including the Colmar Festival (France), organized by Vladimir Spivakov. Together with his sister, Lyusin, Sergei participated in a charity concert to mark the opening of the new Yehudi Menuhin School in Frankfurt am Main in 1998.
Sergei plays a 1724 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin, loaned to him by the Stretton Society, and continues to tour extensively around the world.
Suren Akhnazaryan
Suren Akhnazaryan (born 1949) is an Armenian violinist, professor at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and laureate of the Armenian State Prize.
He studied at the Yerevan Conservatory under Willy Mokatsyan and at the Moscow Conservatory under Leonid Kogan. He has performed in over 40 countries, performing solo and with ensembles.
For many years, he taught at the Yerevan Conservatory, and since 2008, he has conducted international master classes at the Moscow Conservatory. Numerous of his students have won prizes at international competitions.
He is the first performer of many works by contemporary Armenian composers and co-founder of the Akhnazaryan Trio.
Diana Adamyan
Diana Adamyan (born 2000) is an Armenian violinist who is rapidly gaining international recognition as one of the leading representatives of her generation. She won First Prize at the International Menuhin Competition (2018) and the International Aram Khachaturian Competition (2020).
She has performed with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, and Staatsorchester Darmstadt, and has also participated in prestigious festivals such as the Seiji Ohsawa Academy (Switzerland), Matsumoto International Music Festival (Japan), and Aspen Festival (USA). She made her US solo debut with the Boston Celebrity Series and performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall.
She plays a 1760 G. Galliano violin, on loan from the Henri Meuret Foundation..
