Sergey - UN WEEK-END À L’EST

Sergey Khachatryan

Sergey Khachatryan, born in Yerevan, Armenia, is a violinist. By winning first prize at the 8th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki in 2000, he became the youngest laureate in the competition’s history. In 2005, he won first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.

During the 2023/24 season, his international presence included performances with the Dresden Philharmonic (Emmanuel Tjeknavorian), the Korean National Symphony Orchestra (Oksana Lyniv), the Ulster Orchestra (Daniele Rustioni), the Belgian National Orchestra (Michael Schønwandt), the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Otto Tausk), the Auckland Philharmonia (Chloé van Soeterstède), the Bochum Symphony Orchestra (Kahchun Wong), as well as two major tours: an extended Spanish tour with the Basque National Orchestra (Euskadiko Orchestra) conducted by Stanislav Kochanovsky, and a North American tour with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra – with venues including Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, the Maison symphonique in Montreal, Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Highlights from previous seasons include his residency with the Orquesta de Valencia, featuring multiple concerts conducted by Alexander Liebreich, including a chamber music project, and his residency at BOZAR in Brussels, which included a series of recitals and a concert with the Belgian National Orchestra under Hugo Wolff. Other notable performances include re-engagements with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Rotterdam and Royal Flanders Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Sergey has also toured the U.S. and Europe with Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan with a program titled Transfigured Nights, showcasing works by Beethoven, Schoenberg, and Shostakovich.
In March 2024, Sergey Khachatryan released his latest album Ysaye VI Sonatas, marking the world premiere of all six sonatas recorded on Ysaye’s own Guarneri del Gesù violin. The album was selected by Gramophone magazine as one of the most important albums of 2024.
“Khachatryan is at the height of his art (…), you think you’re hearing a violin, but you’re hearing an entire orchestra. Khachatryan is a master of controlled ecstasy” — SWR.

festival special guest

André Manoukian

André Manoukian, born from Armenian parents, learned the piano and the violin before studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1977. A classically trained pianist, he developed an interest in jazz and formed a big band. In 1983, he discovered singer Liane Foly, for whom he became an (…)

festival special guest

Rima Pipoyan

Rima Pipoyan is s one of the pioneers of modern ballet and contemporary dance in Armenia. She is a choreographer, director, and dancer. Her choreographic works have been presented in various cities of Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Belarus, (…)