Armen Movsessian ( hy, Արմեն Մովսեսյան, born August 8, 1969) is a

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 regular ...

player.

Education

1976-1987 - Tchaikovsky School of Music (

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

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

) 1987-1990 - Yerevan Conservatory named after

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

(

) 1990-1992 - Longy School of Music (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, MA )

Biography

Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Armen Movsessian has always had a passion for music. At the

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

School of Music in Yerevan, Armenia, under the direction of Professor Mokatsian, Armen Movsessian started his formal violin instruction at the age of seven. He graduated from the Tchaikovsky School of Music for musically gifted students with a high school certificate, and the Yerevan Conservatory named after

awarded him his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1989, Armen was appointed a Concertmaster of the newly formed Armenian Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Later on, only fifty-four violinists from around the world received an invitation to the 1990

International Violin Competition of Indianapolis The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) is a classical violin competition which takes place once every four years in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since its founding in 1982, "The Indianapolis" has been regarded as the Olympics of ...

, and he was one of them.

United States

He made the decision to immigrate to the United States at this time, and he has since been appointed Concertmaster for the

New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra The New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) was an American orchestra, one of three based in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was established in 1974, with conductor James Bolle. Its last listed music director was Kenneth Kiesler Kenneth Kiesler (born ...

as well as the Panama National Symphony in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. Armen taught violin, viola, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and taught violin at the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New E ...

where he also earned his Artist Diploma in Performance with Distinction in 1992 under the leadership of Professor Sophie Vilker. He participated in Yanni's 2003 and 2004 global Ethnicity tours, the 2005 Yanni Live! The Concert Event, and the Yanni Voices tours. Now residing in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, he performs with several orchestras and runs his own violin studio, the Movsessian Violin Studio. In various orchestras in the United States and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, Armen held the positions of principal and concertmaster. Armen relocated to Los Angeles in 2002, where he worked with the

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

and notable film studios including Warner Bros, Sony/MGM, Paramount, Universal, NBC, and others, scoring for more than 120 films after making his stage debut with the Yanni World Tour in 2003. With a sold-out performance at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in 2010, Armen introduced his audience to a new band called Forbidden Saints. A new record called Forbidden Saints Live was then released in 2011. He has also worked and recorded with many artists including

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

Placido Domingo Placido may refer to: People Surname *José Plácido de Castro (1873–1908), Brazilian soldier and politician *Michele Placido, (born 1946) Italian actor and director * Plácido Vega y Daza, (1830-1878) 19th century Mexican general and politician ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand ...

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

Frank Sinatra Jr. Francis Wayne Sinatra Group note. (; January 10, 1944 – March 16, 2016), professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor. He was the son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

, Olga Tanon, Jose Jose,

Lucero Lucero may refer to: * Lucero (given name) a Spanish given name * Lucero (surname) a Spanish surname * Lucero (entertainer) (born 1969), Mexican singer and actress ** ''Lucero'' (album), eponymous album released in 1993 * Lucero (band), an America ...

Cristian Castro Christian Sáinz Valdés Castro (born 8 December 1974), known professionally as Cristian Castro or Cristian, is a Mexican pop singer. He is the son of actors Veronica Castro and Manuel "El Loco" Valdés, and nephew of actors Ramón Valdés ...

, Olga Tanon, Kamo Seyranyan,

Harout Pamboukjian Harout Pamboukjian ( hy, Հարութ Փամբուկչյան; hyw, Յարութ Փամպուքճեան; born July 1, 1950), known as Dzakh Harut ( hy, Ձախ Հարութ, literally "Left Harout"), is an Armenian pop singer living in Los Ange ...

Armenchik Armen Gondrachyan ( hy, Արմեն Գոնդրաչյան; born August 8, 1980), better known by his stage name Armenchik ( hy, Արմենչիկ), is an Armenian-American pop singer based in Los Angeles. Early years and career Armen Gondrachyan w ...

, and many more. Armen Movsessian is a distinctive and extraordinarily well-rounded artist since he combines his classical training with jazz, rock, and pop.

Experience

1987-1990 - Armenian Youth Philharmonic Orchestra - Concertmaster (Yerevan, Armenia) 1994-1995 - Panama National Symphony - Concertmaster (Panama City, Panama) 1992-1998 - New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra - Concertmaster (Manchester, NH) 1993-2002 - Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra - First Violin Section (Province, RI) 1995-2002 - Clark University - Violin, Viola and Chamber Music Instructor (Worcester, MA) 1998-2002 - Longy School of Music - Violin Instructor (Cambridge, MA) 2002-2009 - Los Angeles Opera - General Director Placido Domingo, Music Director

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 20 ...

, Sub Violin (Los Angeles, CA) 2002-2010 - Yanni Voices - Band/Orchestra, World Tour 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009 - Solo Violin 2002–Present - Los Angeles Motion Picture Recordings - Studios:

Sony Pictures Studios The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...

, Paramount Pictures Studios,

Warner Brothers Studios Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

, FOX Studios - Violin 2011–Present - Forbidden Saints Band - Music Director / Solo Violin

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Movsessian, Armen 1969 births Living people 21st-century violinists Musicians from Yerevan Armenian violinists Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan alumni Clark University faculty Longy School of Music of Bard College faculty