Catherine Manoukian (born June 2, 1981) is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist.

Biography

Background and early life

Catherine Manoukian was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Her parents were professional violinists and met at the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

, where her father studied with

Carlo Van Neste Carlo Van Neste (1 April 1914 in Antwerp – 12 July 1992 in Brussels) was a Belgian violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinis ...

and her mother studied with

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

Career

Catherine Manoukian's professional career started when she won grand prize at the Canadian Music Competition at the age of twelve. The same year, she made her orchestral debut with the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

playing Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1. Since then, she has played with many major North American and international orchestras, like; the

CBC Radio Orchestra The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Until the early 1980s the CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and ...

, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...

, the

Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra The Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra ( or İDSO) is a Turkish symphony orchestra based in Istanbul. Founded in 1945 as the Istanbul Municipality City Orchestra, its first principal conductor was Cemal Reşit Rey and Dr.Mehmet Muvaffak Goren. In ...

, the

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2024, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently a ...

, the

Tokyo Symphony Orchestra The (TSO) is a Japanese orchestra, administratively based in Kawasaki. The orchestra offers subscription concert series at its home, the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall and at Suntory Hall, the Concert Hall of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, ...

, the Osaka Century Orchestra, and the

Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra The Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra (''ANPO'') (Armenian language, Armenian: Հայաստանի ազգային ֆիլհարմոնիկ նվագախումբ) is the national orchestra of Armenia. It was founded in 1925 as a symphony orchest ...

, and has worked with such conductors as

Mario Bernardi Mario Bernardi, (20 August 1930 – 2 June 2013) was a Canadian conductor and pianist. ...

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola, the son of teachers Kauko Pekka Saraste and Ritva Leena-Marjatta (Ruoranen) Saraste. He was trained as a violinist at the Cons ...

Keith Lockhart Keith Alan Lockhart (born November 7, 1959) is an American conductor. He is the Conductor of the Boston Pops orchestra, and the Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. Keith Lockhart, the conductor, is the brother of ...

Roy Goodman Roy Goodman (born 26 January 1951) is an English conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music. He became internationally famous as the 12-year-old boy treble soloist in the March 1963 recording of Alleg ...

Peter Oundjian Peter Haig Oundjian (born 21 December 1955) is a Canadian-American violinist and conductor. Early life Peter Oundjian was born in Toronto, Ontario, the third of five children of Haig Aram Oundjian and his wife Joan Bertrand (Sanderson) Oundjian. ...

Tomomi Nishimoto Tomomi Nishimoto (西本智実) is a Japanese conductor. Biography Tomomi Nishimoto was born in Osaka, Japan on 22 April 1970. Her experience learning to play the piano from her mother at the age of three as well as her mother's musical influence ...

, Seikyo Kim, Eduard Topchjan, and

Jonas Alber Jonas Alber (born March 11, 1969) is a German conductor and violinist based in Berlin. He was appointed general music director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig in 1998, becoming Germany’s youngest conductor to hold such a position at the time. ...

. She has played on the major stages of such cities as New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Los Angeles, Toronto, Paris, Tokyo, and Osaka, and has appeared as a chamber musician at the Aspen, Caramoor, and Newport International Festivals. She has often played novel and unusual repertoire, and recorded a CD of transcriptions for violin of Chopin's music as a teenager. Many of the transcriptions, among them the Cello Sonata, were commissioned by her.

Education

Manoukian's education history is unusual for a musician. She did not go to a music school, but trained privately as a violinist with

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medic ...

in New York as well as with her parents in Toronto. She also received independent lessons in core musical subjects like harmony and chamber music. This gave her the time to also pursue a non-musical education. She has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

(with high distinction) and has done graduate-level work in philosophy (focusing on areas like epistemology and the philosophy of mind). She is now on sabbatical from the PhD programme in philosophy at the

. Manoukian attributes her interest in philosophy to a desire since childhood to understand what musicians do, from a wider perspective than just playing allows. This has recently grown into a project to apply her philosophical thinking to theories about teaching and developing professional artists. She credits

for instilling this interest in her.

Instrument

Manoukian plays on an ex-

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Early years Born in Liège, Ysaÿe began ...

, 1861

Jean Baptiste Vuillaume Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (; 7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) was a French luthier, businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. He was one of the finest French luthiers of the 19th century and a key figure in the world of violin making. ...

violin. She uses bows by Eugene Sartory c.1910.

Personal life

Manoukian is married to conductor Stefan Solyom. They live in Toronto, Canada and have two children, and a dog.

Discography

*Elegies and Rhapsodies (1998) *: Catherine Manoukian, violin *: Akira Eguchi, piano * Chopin on Violin (1999) *: Catherine Manoukian, violin *: Akira Eguchi, piano *Lyricism (2002) *: Catherine Manoukian, violin *: Satoshi Sando, piano *Catherine Manoukian, Violin (2006) (

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

A minor and Khatchaturian Violin Concertos) *: Catherine Manoukian, violin *:

, orchestra *: Eduard Topchjan, conductor

Biography

Background and early life

Career

Education

Instrument

Personal life

Discography

See also

References

External links