Under the auspices of the 3rd Annual Day of Armenian Music at UCLA, the Armenian Music Program hosts internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Artur Avanesov (Armenia). He will be joined by Varty Manouelian, Movses Pogossian, and the VEM Ensemble for an afternoon concert that features works by Avanesov, Khosrovidukht, Gazarossian, Toumajan, Mirzoyan, and 2023 Mansurian Composition Competition Winner Jahan Raymond.
Preceding the concert, UCLA professor Ian Krouse will host "Meet the Artist” session with Mr. Avanesov at 3:00 p.m. at Lani Hall.
Artur Avanesov was born in 1980 in Moscow. From 1997 to 2002 he studied piano and composition at the Yerevan State Conservatory (Armenia), with Stepan Rostomyan and Yelena Abajyan. Subsequently he completed the postgraduate studies in composition at the same conservatory, taking simultaneously piano master courses abroad, notably as a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy 2003-05, as well as with Ensemble Recherche in Freiburg, Germany (2007).
In 2005 he was awarded with Doctor of Arts degree for his research on Zen Buddhism in the music of XX century (supervised by Dr. Prof. Anna Arevshatyan). In 2018-21 he was the head of the Department of Musical Composition at Yerevan State Conservatory. Currently, he is a full-time professor at American University of Armenia.
Being active as a contemporary music performer, he has contributed to the foundation of a number of Armenian and international contemporary music ensembles. He has collaborated and performed with such musicians as Pierre Boulez, Krzystof Penderecki, Rohan de Saram, Kim Kashkashian, Anja Lechner, Vladimir Chernov, Tony Arnold, Tigran Mansurian, Movses Pogossian, among many others. As both composer and performer, he has released a number of CDs with such labels as Deutsche Grammophon, Brilliant Classics, Albany Records, Suoni e Colori, etc.
His own chamber, vocal, choral and piano compositions have been performed at international music festivals and other events in numerous countries.
As a musicologist, he has published multiple research papers and critical articles (mostly on contemporary music issues), as well as online lectures, held seminars on Armenian music in several countries, participated in international conferences.