Narek Hakhnazaryan, Wiener Symphoniker & Tigran Hakhnazaryan
Biography Narek Hakhnazaryan, Wiener Symphoniker & Tigran Hakhnazaryan
Narek Hakhnazaryan
Since winning First Prize and Gold Medal at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition at just 22, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan has established himself as one of the world’s most captivating and sought-after musicians. Described as “dazzlingly brilliant” (The Strad) and “nothing short of magnificent” (San Francisco Chronicle), his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led the LA Times to declare, “His command of the instrument is extraordinary.”
Hakhnazaryan is an Honored Artist of Armenia and a recipient of the Movses Khorenatsi medal for “outstanding achievements in the field of culture”.
He has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and NHK Symphony, among many others.
He has collaborated with esteemed conductors such as Gergiev, Jurowski, Koopman, Alsop, Lintu, Petrenko, Sokhiev, Robertson, Honeck, Noseda, Pletnev, Fischer, Netopil, Spivakov, and Guerrero. Hakhnazaryan has toured Spain with the WDR Symphony Orchestra/Saraste, the United States with the Estonian National Symphony/Järvi, and Japan with the Czech Philharmonic/Bělohlávek.
A former BBC New Generation Artist, Hakhnazaryan has performed with all the BBC orchestras and made a sensational debut at the BBC Proms. In 2017, the Wiener Konzerthaus named him a “Great Talent”, presenting him in recital, chamber music, and orchestral performances, including appearances with the Wiener Symphoniker and Hrůša.
A versatile artist, Hakhnazaryan recently made his conducting debut at Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle with the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg Orchestra and led a critically acclaimed production of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice in Armenia.
In 2024, he founded the “Artsakh” Orchestra and now serves as its Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. Under his leadership, the orchestra performs in Armenia and internationally, sharing Armenian and global music and culture with audiences around the world.
As a passionate chamber musician, he has performed at leading festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro, Ravinia, and Aspen, and collaborated with artists including Trifonov, Maisky, Kozhukhin, Pressler, Levit, Repin, Matsuev, and others. He is a founding member of the Z.E.N. Trio with violinist Yoo and pianist Zuo, touring across North America, Europe, China, and Australia. The trio has released two acclaimed albums on Deutsche Grammophon.
His recent recital tour of Southeast Asia featured the complete Bach Cello Suites in Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, and Kyoto. In North America, he performs regularly in recital and with orchestras, with recent appearances in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto, and past performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Jordan Hall.
In addition to his concert career, Hakhnazaryan has contributed to film, recording soundtracks and appearing in award-winning productions, including Kusturica’s On the Milky Road, Yasha and Brezhnev, and the animated documentary Aurora’s Sunrise.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season include his conducting debut in Vienna with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, where he will appear as both conductor and soloist, along with recitals in Hong Kong, London, Vienna, Copenhagen, Cambridge, Belfast, and Yerevan. He will also appear as soloist with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, the Arts Symphony Orchestra in Seoul, and the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, alongside multiple recital and orchestra tours in major cities across China.
Mentored from the age of 14 by the legendary Rostropovich, Hakhnazaryan studied at the Moscow State Conservatory with Seleznyov and earned his Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory under Lesser. He began cello studies at age six at the Sayat-Nova School of Music in Yerevan with Sarkisyan.
His early achievements include First Prize at the 2006 Aram Khachaturian International Competition in Armenia, First Prize at the 2006 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, and First Prize at the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, which led to his debut at both the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall at the age of 19.
Tigran Hakhnazaryan
has an extensive and varied repertoire which includes symphonic works, instrumental concertos as well as chamber music and also opera and ballet pieces.
Tigran Hakhnazaryan was born in 1978. In 2000 he graduated from the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory where he studied violin under Souren Hakhnazaryan) and as well as opera and symphony conducting with Emin Khachaturian. In 2002 he completed his postgraduate course in opera and symphony conducting with honours.
In 1998-1999 he trained at the Rimsky-Korsakov St.-Petersburg State Conservatory with Professor Ilya Musin. During this period he worked with the St.-Petersburg Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.
In 2001-2002 he was the artistic director and chief conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Bashkortostan.
In 2004 he founded the Impression youth chamber orchestra (Moscow) and until 2010 was its conductor and artistic director successfully performing with the young musicians in Moscow and Moscow region.
In 2010-2012 he was the chief conductor of the Komi Republic State Opera and Ballet Theatre. During this period he conducted various operas including Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, La Traviata, Carmen, La Bohème, Pagliacci, Don Pasquale, The Tsar’s Bride operettas Die Fledermaus, The Merry Widow, ballets Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and other works.
In 2011 and 2012 he participated in the Syktyvkarsa Tulys (Syktyvkar Spring) International Opera and Ballet Festival. He also collaborated with soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre Zurab Sotkilava, Makvala Kasrashvili and Vladimir Redkin and also with Mariinsky Theatre soloists Vladimir Vaneyev, Natalia Yevstafieva and Yekaterina Shimanovich.
The conductor performs regularly with his brother, the famous cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan. In 2011-2012 Moscow and Yerevan audiences had a chance to see unique and unprecedented family performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano, violin, cello and orchestra (conductor: Tigran Hakhnazaryan, cello: Narek Hakhnazaryan, violin and piano: Souren Hakhnazaryan and Gayane Hakhnazaryan, conductor’s parents).
Since August 2013 Tigran Hakhnazaryan has been the artistic director and chief conductor of the Far Eastern Symphony Orchestra and Serenade Chamber Orchestra based in Khabarovsk.
As a guest conductor Tigran Hakhnazaryan closely cooperates with various symphony and chamber orchestras including the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Donetsk Philharmonic, Karelian State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Volgograd Symphony Orchestra, State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra on Caucasus Mineral Waters, Tambov Symphony Orchestra, Yerevan Symphony Orchestra, Pavel Slobodkin Center Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia.
