International Concert Pianist Raffi Besalyan Releases New Solo Album

Internationally-acclaimed concert pianist Raffi Besalyan announces the release of his exciting new solo album entitled "Dance, Drama, Decadence" published by IMC Music in Tokyo. The CD consists of virtuoso works by Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Ravel and includes premiere recordings of the colorful folkloristic pieces of Armenian composers Komitas and Baghdassarian. In addition to his new solo album, Besalyan has recorded with renowned pianist Sara Davis Buechner "The Bach-Busoni Edition Vol. 1" which was released by Koch International Classics in September 2008.

Hailed by the Chopin magazine of Japan as “[a] true heir of the mainstream of Russian pianism, like Horowitz”, Raffi Besalyan has established an international reputation as a magnetic and passionate performer. Active as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, and chamber musician, Besalyan appears in many important music venues worldwide. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic have praised his performances for their virility, poetry, and extraordinary technical command.

Besalyan made his formal New York debut in Carnegie Hall after winning the Artists International Competition and was subsequently invited to perform at Merkin Concert Hall on the Artists International “Outstanding Alumni-Winners” series. New York Concert Review described him as “Technically brilliant...Besalyan played with a great deal of temperament, speed and power...audacious spirit and poetic substance, deeply felt tenderness...”

Among his other competition awards are top prizes in the Josef Hofmann International Piano Competition, the New York Frinna Awerbuch International Competition, and the MTNA National Piano Competition.

Besalyan has dazzled his audiences in North and South America, Europe, Russia, and Asia, appearing as a solist with many prominent orchestras, including Osaka Symphony Orchestra in Japan, Orchestra Sinfonica Del Festival Di Chioggia in Venice, Yerevan Symphony Orchestra in Armenia, Belgorod Symphony in Russia, Kharkov Symphony in Ukraine, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and Moscow Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Besalyan’s solo recitals have been broadcast live on National Public Radio. His performances have been applauded in prestigious venues such as Izumi Hall and Phoenix Hall in Osaka, Rachmaninoff Hall and Maly Hall in Moscow, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York City.

Since his highly successful tour of Japan in 2001, Besalyan visits the country on a yearly basis for concerts, master classes and adjudication for PTNA, Osaka International Competition, and International Chopin Competition in Asia.

A native of Yerevan, Armenia, Besalyan studied at the Tchaikovsky Special Music School for Gifted Children. He holds a doctorate from Yerevan Komitas Conservatory and also has degrees from Rowan University and the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Among his teachers are Sergey Barseghyan, legendary American pianist Byron Janis, and Sara Davis Buechner. His studies at the Moscow State Conservatory included classes with Alexei Nasedkin, Victor Merzhanov and Naum Shtarkman.

Besalyan is Associate Professor-Artist/Teacher at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. A former piano faculty member at Rowan University in New Jersey, he has also served on the faculties of Festival Musica in Laguna in Venice, and the International Music Festival at Rowan.

For more information, please visit: www.raffibesalyan.com and www.imc-music.net/artist_raffi-besalyan.

For booking engagements contact Tina Doerr at tinadoerr@solarus.net or call 715-479-6414.