Raffi Besalyan (, born in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

) 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 ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Concert Pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz, blues, and popular music, including rock and roll. Most pianists can, to ...

. Besalyan studied at the Tchaikovsky Special Music School for Gifted Children in Yerevan, and received Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from

Yerevan State Musical Conservatory Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan (), also known as Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YKSC) or Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC), is a state-owned college of music located in Yerevan, Armenia. The institute was founded in 1921 as a music s ...

. He received an additional master's degree from Rowan University, and studied at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

with legendary American pianist

Byron Janis Byron Janis (né Yanks; March 24, 1928 – March 14, 2024) was an American classical pianist. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series ''Great Pianists of the 20th Century''. ...

. Besalyan has won top prizes in several national and international competitions. Among them ar
MTNA National Competition
Josef Hofmann International Piano Competition

and Artists International Competition in New York. Besalyan made his New York Recital Debut i
Carnegie Hall
in 2003 to high critical acclaim. He regularly performs throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

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. His performances have taken him to a number of prestigious venues, including Carnegie and Merkin Hall (New York City), the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Atlanta Symphony Hall, Moscow Conservatory's Rachmaninoff Hall and Maly Zal (Russia), and Izumi and Phoenix Hall in Japan. Besalyan tours Japan on a yearly basis for adjudication (PTNA, Osaka International Music Competition), master classes, and concerts. He is represented in Japan b
Tokyo IMC
Tokyo IMC: Japan> overview
", retrieved 2007-06-09.MAS management
MAS Management: Japan> overview
, retrieved 2007-06-09. and is a Guest Artist/Teacher of The Takatsuki Music Teacher's Association of OsakaTMTA Osaka (takaon): Japan> overview
, retrieved 2007-06-09. an
Yamaha
Yamaha Music Japan: Concert/Master classes> overview
, retrieved 2007-06-09. He was formerly a professor at

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. Founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents, the scho ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (UW–Stevens Point or UWSP) is a public university in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1894, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System. UW-Stevens Point grants associ ...

. and

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

where he served as the keyboard area coordinator.

Concert reviews

In 1998, ''Armenian Reporter International'', said “Standing ovation and cries of “Bravo” and “Encore” went to pianist Raffi Besalyan... mesmerized the audience with his gracious, delicate yet powerful presentation of

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

’s Concerto No.3.” Armenian Reporter, The: Pianist wows audience in performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto> overview
, retrieved 2007-06-09. In a 2008 ''Chopin Magazine'' review, critic Senshi Yokohara praised Raffi Besalyan’s performance at Izumi Hall for its "lucid and beautiful sound," expressive interpretations of Rachmaninoff and Liszt, and imaginative renditions of works by Komitas and Gershwin. Yokohara described Besalyan as a “true heir of the Russian pianism tradition, like Horowitz.”https://www.raffibesalyan.com: Reviews
", retrieved 2009-05-02. In 2008, ''Sotokuan Press'' reviewed the concert at

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan and stated:“The flow of Baghdassarian's Prelude instantly changed the color and the air of Izumi Hall. The entire hall was devoured by Besalyan’s glorious touch and crystalline sound...Besalyan was not just playing the piano, he was creating wonderful art, and treated the piano with his love for the music. ” In 2008, the ''Tribune Gazette'' stated: "I attended the piano recital of Armenian-born pianist Raffi Besalyan in Clintonville on April 16. What a splendid interpretation of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff – I was totally mesmerized by Mr. Besalyan’s dynamic performance. The rest of his repertoire, Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz, Chopin’s Etudes and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue were played with extreme perfection, Mr. Besalyan really let “the piano speak.” In 2014, ''Detroit Performs'' did a review and stated: "The maniacal Mephisto Waltz # 1 by Liszt closed the program. Its technical difficulties were negotiated with aplomb, but what a jaw-dropper! Face it, the piece is mostly empty bombast, but it is so much fun, and it displays a pianist’s exceptional skills. Raffi Besalyan has a surfeit of them, stamina and strength foremost in this opus."

Recordings

In 2012 Besalyan established himself as an award-winning recording artist, receiving international accolades for his album “Dance, Drama, Decadence” (IMC Music, Japan). The album received the prestigious Jun-Tokusen Award from The Record Geijutsu, Japan’s leading classical music magazine, and was chosen as the “Classical Album of the Month” by Mainichi Shinbun, one of Japan's largest newspapers. “Dance, Drama, Decadence” was selected as the “Best New Release of the Month” by

Tokyo FM (abbreviation:TFM) is a radio station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flagship station of the Japan FM Network (JFN). Timeline The station's forerunner, FM Tokai (FM東海, abbreviated FMT), owned by Tokai University, was launched on ...

, a prominent radio channel, where the CD premiered in its entirety. In addition, Ongaku no Tomo of Japan recommended and archived the CD as a study reference for music students and professors alike. Fanfare Magazine featured Besalyan in an extensive interview followed by rave reviews of the album, and another glowing review appeared in American Record Guide. Besalyan was also interviewed by Wisconsin Public Radio's Norman Gilliland on The Midday, and Dance, Drama, Decadence was aired on WPR (Madison, WI) and KHPR (Honolulu, HI). The album features virtuoso works by

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

, and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

and premiere recordings of colorful folkloristic pieces by Armenian composers

Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas (; 22 October 1935), was an Ottoman-Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national school of musi ...

and Baghdassarian. Besalyan is also featured on “Bach-Busoni Edition, Vol.I” for Koch International Classics. Besalyan's first critically acclaimed recording of solo works by S. Rachmaninoff and A. Babajanian for the Grammy Award-Winning record label

Sono Luminus Sono Luminus is a classical music record label founded by Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack, who also founded Cisco Systems. The label specializes in high-resolution recordings of acoustic music. History Sono Luminus was created in 1995 by Cisco ...

entitled "The Return" was released in March 2015, and is distributed by Naxos. “The Return” has been aired on several radio stations across the U.S. and Canada, such as the NPR, WGBH Boston, WRUV Vermont, the SiriusXM Washington D.C., Wisconsin Public Radio, The King FM Seattle, WFMT Chicago, The Grand FM Ontario and CBC Public Radio. WQXR, New York's premiere classical radio station featured the album as the New and Noteworthy Release of September 2015. In 2021, Besalyan's second solo piano album "The Sound of Black & White" for

was released. The album includes a world premiere recording of

Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor (music), conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian, and actor. He had roles in the films ''Rhapsody in Bl ...

’s jazzy Sonatina. "The Sound of Black & White" was featured on six playlists by Apple Classical Music, and was a nominee for the Album of the Year- Solo Piano o
Native DSD
selected by highly qualified reviewers from hundreds submitted by 80 record labels. "The Sound of Black & White" is frequently aired on NPR affiliated radio channels.

Publications

* Eduard Baghdasarian, 24 Preludes for Piano (Edited and with fingerings by Raffi Besalyan); Publisher: Muse Press, Japan; Published on November 29, 2021

References

External links

Official site

The Return by Raffi Besalyan

'Raffi Besalyan, pianist from Atlanta'
Interview for Armenian Music Project with Tigran Arakelyan {{DEFAULTSORT:Besalyan, Raffi Armenian classical pianists 1972 births Musicians from Yerevan Armenian pianists Living people Rowan University faculty Georgia State University faculty 21st-century classical pianists