Slava Grigoryan (born 1976) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

ist and

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

. He frequently collaborates and performs with his younger brother, fellow guitarist

Leonard Grigoryan Leonard Grigoryan is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist of Armenian heritage. He is the younger brother of fellow guitarist Slava Grigoryan, with whom he often plays in a duo as the Grigoryan Brothers. Life and career Of Arme ...

, performing as the Grigoryan Brothers.

Early life

He was born in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

to Eduard and Irina Grigoryan, both professional

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ists. His family emigrated to Australia in 1981 and he was raised in Melbourne. Grigoryan began to study guitar with his father at the age of seven. By the age of twelve, he was performing professionally and made his solo debut in Sydney at fourteen. He attended Caulfield Junior College (then known as Caulfield North Central School) and

St Michael's Grammar School , motto_translation = For the Church of God , location = 25 Chapel Street, St Kilda, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Melbourne , ...

, during which time he studied with Ron Payne, and, later, at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Career

Following his win at the Tokyo International Classical Guitar Competition, where he was the youngest finalist in the history of that competition, Grigoryan signed with

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

in 1995 for whom he released four solo albums. Since then he has toured extensively in Australia, Europe, North America and Asia; he made his

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

debut in 1997. He changed

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

ABC Classics ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 2001 and subsequently released another solo album and an album recorded with his younger brother, Leonard. Frequent collaborators, the pair perform as Grigoryan Brothers and have released five albums, all of which have been nominated for

ARIA Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

. In 2014 Grigoryan Brothers released ''This Time'' which has been well reviewed. Some of their previous releases include ''The Seasons'' and ''Distance''. Grigoryan also joined with fellow Australian musicians

Anthony Field Anthony Donald Joseph Field, AM (born 8 May 1963) is an Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer. He is best known as a leader of the children's group the Wiggles and a member of the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. While s ...

, Karin Schaupp and Gareth Koch to release albums under the group name Saffire. Field was later replaced by Leonard (see Saffire article). He has been artistic director of the

Adelaide Guitar Festival The Adelaide Guitar Festival (AGF), formerly the Adelaide International Guitar Festival (AGIF) is Australia's largest guitar festival, held biennially in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The AGF is the sister event to the New York Guita ...

since 2010.

Personal life

Grigoryan has two children Isabella and Paolo from his first marriage. He married cellist Sharon Draper in December 2016 and their son Sebastian was born in July 2018.

Discography

Awards and recognition

In addition to his achievement in the Tokyo International Classical Guitar Competition, he has won a number of awards including

Young Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territ ...

for the Arts in 1998, the Mo award for Instrumentalist of the Year in 2001. In 2000 he appeared as a soloist with the

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 2 September 2005. Richard Tognetti was appointed Lead Violin in 1989 and subsequently appo ...

and was part of the 2000 Sydney Olympics Arts Festival.

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , AIR Awards of 2017 , ''Bach Cello Suites Vol 1'' , Best Independent Classical Album , , - ,

AIR Awards of 2018 The AIR Awards of 2018 is the twelfth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Queen's Theatre Adelaide, Australia on Thursday 26 July 2017. In 2018, ...

, ''Bach: Cello Suites Volume II'' , Best Independent Classical Album , , - ,

AIR Awards of 2019 The AIR Awards of 2019 is the thirteenth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Freemasons Hall Adelaide, Australia on Thursday 25 July 2019. The awa ...

, ''Bach Concertos'' , Best Independent Classical Album , , - , AIR Awards of 2022 , ''This Is Us: A Musical Reflection of Australia'' , Best Independent Classical Album or EP , , -

ARIA Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Slava Grigoryan won his first ARIA Music Award for ''Sonatas & Fantasies'' in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. In total, he has won four.Slava Grigoryan at the ARIA Music Awards: * 1995 winners and nominees: * 1998 winners and nominees: * 2002 winners and nominees: * 2003 winners and nominees: * 2004 winners and nominees: * 2005 winners and nominees: * 2006 winners and nominees: * 2007 winners and nominees: * 2008 winners and nominees: * 2009 winners and nominees: * 2011 winners and nominees: * 2012 winners and nominees: * 2015 winners and nominees: * 2017 winners and nominees: * 2018 Fine Arts Awards winners and nominees: * 2020 ARIA Awards winners and nominees: , - , ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, , ''Spirit of Spain'' , ,

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...

, , , - , ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, , ''Dance of the Angels'' , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

, , ''Sonatas & Fantasies'' , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

, , ''Play'' (Slava Grigoryan and Leonard Grigoryan) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, , ''Brazil'' (Slava Grigoryan and

Jane Rutter Jane Rutter (born 2 November 1958) is an Australian flautist. Her repertoire encompasses classical, jazz, and pop music. Career Rutter specializes in the French Flute School. She has lectured at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and formed ...

) , ,

Best World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

, , , - , ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, , ''Afterimage'' , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, , ''Rodrigo Guitar Concertos '' (Slava Grigoryan, Leonard Grigoryan,

Queensland Orchestra Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra in the state of Queensland. The orchestra is based in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's building in South Bank. The Orchestra is funded by private corporations, th ...

, Brett Kelly) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, , ''Impressions'' (Slava Grigoryan and Leonard Grigoryan) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , ''Baroque Guitar Concertos '' (Slava Grigoryan,

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). History The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestr ...

, Benjamin Northey) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, , ''Distance'' (Slava Grigoryan and Leonard Grigoryan) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, , ''Band of Brothers'' (Slava Grigoryan, Leonard Grigoryan,

Joseph Tawadros Joseph Tawadros (born 6 October 1983) is an Egyptian-born Coptic Australian multi-instrumentalist and oud virtuoso. Tawadros has won the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album five times: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020. and 2021. Biography His fami ...

, James Tawadros) , , Best World Music Album , , , - , ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, , ''My Latin Heart'' (Jose Carbo with Slava Grigoryan and Leonard Grigoryan) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, , ''This Time'' (Grigoryan Brothers) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , rowspan="3",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, , ''Bach: Cello Suites Volume I'' , , Best Classical Album , , , - , , ''Songs Without Words'' (Grigoryan Brothers) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , , ''

Ali's Wedding (soundtrack) ''Ali's Wedding (soundtrack)'' is the original motion picture soundtrack for the 2017 Australian romantic comedy Ali's Wedding, of the same name starring Osamah Sami and Don Hany. The soundtrack is credited to Nigel Westlake, Sydney Symphony Orc ...

'' (

Nigel Westlake Nigel Westlake is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films '' Ali's Wedding'', ''Paper Planes'', '' Miss Potter'', ''Babe'', '' Babe: Pig in the City'', '' Children o ...

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and f ...

, with Joseph Tawadros, Slava Grigoryan &

Lior Lior Attar, better known simply as Lior, is an independent Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne. He is best known for his 2005 debut studio album ''Autumn Flow'' and for the song "Hoot's Lullaby". Early life and education Lior was bo ...

) , , Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album , , , - , ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, , ''Bach: Cello Suites Volume II'' , , Best Classical Album , , , - , ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , ''Bach Concertos'' (Grigoryan Brothers, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra & Benjamin Northey) , , Best Classical Album , , , - , rowspan="2",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, ''Our Place: Duets for Cello and Guitar'' , Best Classical Album , , - , ''A Boy Called Sailboat'' (Grigoryan Brothers) , Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album , , - , ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , ''This Is Us (A Musical Reflection of Australia)'' (Grigoryan Brothers) , , Best Classical Album , , , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Slava Grigoryan won two awards in that time. (wins only) , - , 2000 , Slava Grigoryan , Instrumental Performer of the Year , , - , 2004 , Slava Grigoryan , Instrumental Performer of the Year , , -

South Australian Music Awards

The

South Australian Music Awards The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary mu ...

(previously known as the Fowler's Live Music Awards) are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry. They commenced in 2012. , - , 2019 , Slava and

with Beijing Duo , Best International Collaboration , , -

References

External links

The Grigoryan Brothers, Slava and Leonard's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigoryan, Slava 1976 births ARIA Award winners Australian classical guitarists Australian people of Armenian descent Kazakhstani people of Armenian descent Living people Musicians from Melbourne People educated at St Michael's Grammar School Australian male guitarists 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century guitarists 21st-century Australian musicians 21st-century classical musicians 21st-century guitarists 20th-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians Victorian College of the Arts alumni Soviet emigrants to Australia