Serouj Kradjian
Encyclopedia
Early life and education
At fourteen earned a scholarship to study in Vienna, and was gaining allocades by the age of seven. He moved to Vienna at fourteen to pursue his training on a scholarship. He later studied with Marietta Orlov at the University of TorontoUniversity of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
's Faculty of Music, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Piano Performance in 1994. He studied with Einar Steen-Nökleberg at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater
Hochschule für Musik und Theater
Hochschule für Musik und Theater is the name of several German conservatories:* Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, one of the larger universities of music in Germany...
in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Germany, receiving a Solo Performance degree in 2001.
Performances
Kradjian has appeared with the Vancouver and Edmonton Symphonies, Göttingen Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, the Armenian Philharmonic and the Thailand Philharmonic under the baton of conductors such as Bramwell Tovey, Stéphane Denève, Gudni Emilsson and Raffi Armenian.Kradjian has performed solo and chamber music recitals in many world venues and he has been invited to perform at festivals such as the Bergen Festival, Savannah Music Festival, Colmar Festival and the Festival Del Sole- Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy.
Works composed or arranged by Kradjian have been performed by I Musici Montreal, the Vancouver Symphony and the Elmer Iseler Singers
Elmer Iseler Singers
The Elmer Iseler Singers is a professional chamber choir based in Toronto, Canada.The twenty-voice choir, conducted by Artistic Director Lydia Adams], founded by Dr. Elmer Iseler in 1979, is one of Canada’s leading choral ensembles. The choir has built an international reputation through its...
. He was also founder and music director of Camerata Creativa in Madrid, Spain, a chamber orchestra dedicated to the performance of contemporary works.
His concerts have been broadcast by the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, Radio de la Suisse Romande, Radio and TV España, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the Süddeutsche Rundfunk and NHK Japan.
In the 2008/09 season Kradjian become the artistic director and pianist of the Amici Ensemble.
Discography
Kradjian's discography includes traversals of Franz Liszt's Transcendental Etudes and Piano Concerti on the Warner Music Spain label. “Miniatures”, an anthology of music written by Armenian composers, and Robert Schumann's three Sonatas for Violin and Piano (with Ara Malikian) are both Hänssler Classic releases. In 2002, he began working with soprano Isabel BayrakdarianIsabel Bayrakdarian
Isabel Bayrakdarian is a Grammy Award-nominated Armenian Canadian opera singer.-Early life:Born in Lebanon in 1974, she moved to Canada as a teenager. Bayrakdarian graduated in 1997 from the University of Toronto with an honours B.A.Sc...
, and their disc of songs by Pauline Viardot-Garcia was released in 2005, bringing the two artists, who are a married couple, a 2006 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year. He has explored and performed tango music which led to the disc “Tango Notturno” on CBC Records. His award-winning orchestral arrangements of folk songs by Gomidas
Gomidas
Gomidas, also known as Komitas, bishop of Taron, was the Catholicos of Armenia from 615 through 628. He is also known to have been a hymn writer. He pulled down the original chapel and rebuilt the St. Hripsime Church at Etchmiadzin as it is seen today....
– Armenia's national composer – were released in 2008 on the Nonesuch label.
Personal life
A speaker of six languages, Kradjian lives in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
with Isabel Bayrakdarian
Isabel Bayrakdarian
Isabel Bayrakdarian is a Grammy Award-nominated Armenian Canadian opera singer.-Early life:Born in Lebanon in 1974, she moved to Canada as a teenager. Bayrakdarian graduated in 1997 from the University of Toronto with an honours B.A.Sc...
and their child.