A top Armenian-American pianist Sergei Babayan will perform a single concert November 26 in Israel to open the country’s young pianists’ competition, culbyt.com said.
Babayan began his musical studies at age six. A student of legendary teachers and musicians as Gornostayeva, Naumov, Pletnev and Vlasenko in the Moscow Conservatory, Sergei Babayan was one of the the first pianists from the former USSR who was able to compete without government sponsorship after the collapse of the system.
In 1989, Babayan travelled to the United States. That same year he won first prize in the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition.After he won first prize in the Palm Beach International Piano Competition and first prize in the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, he became a Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 1991. He won first prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition and third prize at the Busoni International Piano Competition. He was a prize winner at the Esther Honens International Piano Competition.
In 1996, Babayan founded the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
