Sergei Babayan is an Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 concert pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

.

Biography

Babayan began his musical studies at age six with Luisa Markaryan. He studied under Lev Naumov

Lev Naumov

Lev Nikolayevich Naumov was a Russian classical pianist, composer and educator. Received a title of People's Artist of Russia and was nicknamed the "Godfather of the Russian piano school"....

 and at the Moscow Conservatory

Moscow Conservatory

The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...

 under Vera Gornostayeva

Vera Gornostayeva

Vera Gornostayeva is a Russian pianist and pedagogue.Emeritus Artist of the Russian Federation, Gornostaeva is a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where her teacher was the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus....

 and Mikhail Pletnev

Mikhail Pletnev

Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev is a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer.-Life and career:Pletnev was born into a very musical family in Arkhangelsk, then part of the Soviet Union; his father played and taught the bayan, and his mother the piano...

. In 1989 Babayan travelled to the United States. That same year he won first prize in the Robert Casadesus

Robert Casadesus

Robert Casadesus was a renowned 20th-century French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a famous musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus, husband of Gaby Casadesus, and father of Jean Casadesus.-Biography:Robert Casadesus was born in Paris...

 International Piano Competition. After he won first prize in the Palm Beach International Piano Competition and first prize in the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition

Hamamatsu International Piano Competition

The Hamamatsu International Piano Competition has been held every 3 years since 1991 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan.-Top prize winners:* 2009 — Cho Seong Jin, South Korea* 2006 — Alexej Gorlatch* 2003 — Rafal Blechacz and Alexander Kobrin...

, he became a Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition

The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions has been, since its foundation, considered the world over to be one of the most prestigious and most difficult. It is devoted to violin , piano , to composition and to singing...

 in 1991. He won first prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition and third prize at the Busoni International Piano Competition

Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition

The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is a music competition for young pianists that takes place in Bolzano, Italy.-History: The first Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition was organized by Cesare Nordio in 1949 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the death of pianist and...

. He was a prize winner at the Esther Honens International Piano Competition.

His programming often includes Romantic composers such as Rachmaninoff, and modern works by composers such as Witold Lutosławski, György Ligeti

György Ligeti

György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...

, Carl Vine

Carl Vine

Carl Vine is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music.-Career:Vine was born in Perth, Western Australia. When he was ten years old, he took up the piano. An adolescent encounter with Karlheinz Stockhausen inspired a period as a teenage modernist, a direction which he abandoned in 1985...

 and Arvo Pärt

Arvo Pärt

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...

. He is also recognized for his prominent interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

.

He frequently appears as a soloist with such orchestras as The National Orchestra of Belgium

National Orchestra of Belgium

The Nationaal Orkest van België or Orchestre National de Belgique is the oldest of two major orchestras now in Belgium, along with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège....

, The Cleveland Orchestra

Cleveland Orchestra

The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...

, The Italian Symphony Orchestra of Brescia & Bergamo, and the Czech State Philharmonic.

Babayan has collaborated with such conductors as Valery Gergiev

Valery Gergiev

Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...

, Yuri Temirkanov

Yuri Temirkanov

Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov is a Russian conductor of Circassian origin.Yuri Temirkanov has been the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic since 1988.-Early life:...

, Neeme Järvi

Neeme Järvi

Neeme Järvi is an Estonian-born conductor.-Early life:Järvi studied music first in Tallinn, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, among others...

, Hans Graf

Hans Graf

Hans Graf is an Austrian conductor.As a child, Graf learned the violin and the piano. He studied at the Musikhochschule in Graz, Austria, and graduated with diplomas in piano and conducting. He also participated in conducting master classes with Franco Ferrara, Sergiu Celibidache and Arvīds Jansons...

, David Robertson

David Robertson (conductor)

David Eric Robertson is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.-Early life:...

, Kazimierz Kord

Kazimierz Kord

Kazimierz Kord is a Polish conductor. Between 1939 and 1945, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków....

 and Michael Christie

Michael Christie (conductor)

Michael Christie is an American conductor. He graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance...

. He has recorded with the Connoisseur Society

Connoisseur Society

Connoisseur Society is an American audiophile classical music and jazz record label based in New York. It was founded by E. Alan Silver and James Goodfriend. Silver is also leading the company In Sync, which offers remasterings on CDs from tapes and LPs.Silver and Goodfriend helped artists from the...

 label, Discover Records and Pro Piano Records.

In 1996, Babayan founded the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music

Cleveland Institute of Music

The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....

, where he is also an Artist-in-Residence. His students have included the pianists Grace Fong

Grace Fong

Grace Fong, D.M.A., is currently the Director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University Conservatory of Music and continues an active solo and chamber music career. She also performs as part of the Selvaggi Trio....

, now Director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University

Chapman University

Chapman University is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, California affiliated with the Christian Church . Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media...

 Conservatory of Music; Margarita Shevchenko, Stanislav Khristenko, Dmitri Levkovich, Andrius Zlabys  and Daniil Trifonov

Daniil Trifonov

-Biography:Trifonov is a top prize winner of several major international piano competitions, including the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow...

, Third Prize winner of 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition, First Prize winner of the 2011 Arthur Rubinstein Competition, and First Prize winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition.