"With his youth, passion and virtuosity the Armenian pianist Karen Hakobyan lit up the famous piece (Tchaikovsky concerto)"
VIDA EL NORTE, by Alejandro Fenandez
He was also featured at "Keys to the Future" Contemporary Music Concert Series in 2009 and 2010 in New York City. His performance of Vuk Kulenovic's "Virginal" in Le Poisson Rouge on the closing night of the "Keys to the Future" festival was described as "sensitively rendered" by New York Times. He was also featured in three special concerts during Carnegie Hall’s 2010-2011 season.
Highlights from Karén’s 2016- 2017 concert season include guest appearances with the Japan Sinfonia (Tokyo, Japan), Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra (Beirut, Lebanon), Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra (Yerevan, Armenia) and the Imperial Orchestra (Montreal, Canada) as well as solo recitals in Japan, Argentina, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
" A meditative mood also permeated Vuk Kelonovic's "Virginal", sensitively rendered by Karen Hakobyan"
NEW YORK TIMES MUSIC REVIEW, by Vivien Schweitzer
Biography
Pianist, Composer and Conductor
Reviews
FOR PRESS & PRESENTERS
rmenian-American pianist and composer Karén Hakobyan has emerged as a versatile force on the international musical scene. Since his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of seventeen, he has been performing in major concert halls in Armenia, Argentina, Mexico, Germany, France, Japan and the United States. Mr. Hakobyan appeared as a soloist in North America with the World Peace Sinfonietta, the University of Utah Philharmonia, the Salt Lake Symphony, Summer Arts Festival Orchestra, the New American Symphony, Ridgewood Symphony, Ureuk Symphony Orchestra and the World Festival Orchestra and internationally with the Tucuman Philharmonic Orchestra (Argentina), the Monterrey Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Serenade Chamber Orchestra, and the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia.
Karén won Bronze Medal in the World Piano International Competition, 1st prize in the Pinault International Audiotape - Videotape Piano Competition and 2nd prize in the Armenian Legacy Pianists International Piano Competition. He has also won 1st prize in the Four Corners Piano Competition, and The Fite Piano Competition. He was a winner of the 2004 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Competition. Of his March 2011 Carnegie Hall composition debut, David LaMarche (New York Concert Review) praised Karén as “a musician of abundant gifts and bountiful ideas.”
Karén regularly appears in prestigious festivals and concert series. Some of his festival performance highlights include: the "Lille International Piano(s) Festival" in France in 2005, "The Pianist as Composer" Festival at Mannes College of Music in 2008 and "The Mendelssohn Salon Yearlong Festival" in 2009 in New York City and Gina Bachauer International Festival in 2014 in Utah.
Mr. Hakobyan's performances have been broadcasted on WQXR New York's Classical Radio Station, WMFT Chicago’s Classical Radio Station, Argentine National Radio, Monterrey’s (Mexico) Op. 102 Radio Station, Utah Public Radio 89.5 FM and on Armenian National Radio. His live performance of Khatchaturian Piano Concerto in Muza Kawasaki Hall in Tokyo with Mahler Festival Orchestra as well as selections from his solo recital in Ichigaya Hall will be released on Altus Cd Label in Japan in 2017.
Karén is the Founder and Artistic Director of Pegasus: The Orchestra based in New York City and is also the Cultural Program Advisor of Armenia Fund, USA.
There are a lot of "bangers" on stage today posing as virtuosos. It is a distinct pleasure to count Karen Hakobyan as among the pianists whose virtuosity is at the service of the music.
PINAULT INTERNTIONAL SOCIETY CONCERT REVIEW, by Philipp Dieckow
"Karen Hakobyan is a musician of abundant gifts and bountiful ideas"
NEW YORK CONCERT REVIEW
A
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 210:25
Karen Hakobyan © All rights reserved.