(June 2024) — 21C Media Group is thrilled to announce that it now represents Sergei Babayan,
long venerated as a “pianist’s pianist” whose interpretations combine “quiet beauty and
emotional fire” (The Times of London). Having devoted decades to his distinguished teaching
career, the Armenian American pianist is now expanding his own presence on the international
stage. Over the coming months, he performs concertos by Brahms and Rachmaninoff with the
orchestras of three continents, including the São Paulo Symphony, Royal Bangkok Symphony,
and Antwerp Symphony. He previews “Songs,” an imaginatively curated new solo recital
program, in England, South Korea, and China, before touring it extensively next season.
Meanwhile, his summer festival lineup includes returns to Aspen and Bravo! Vail for
Rachmaninoff duo recitals with his former student Daniil Trifonov, as on their recent Deutsche
Grammophon release, just named among the “Best Classical Music Albums of 2024 (So Far)” by BBC Music magazine.

Classics Today reports, “Keyboard connoisseurs have revered Sergei Babayan for decades.”
The New York Times praises his “consummate technique and insight,” France’s Le Figaro
wonders at his “unequaled touch, perfectly harmonious phrasing and breathtaking
virtuosity,” and Bachtrack calls him “one of the greatest pianists of our time.” “This is piano
playing of the very highest echelon,” agrees MusicWeb International. As Canada’s Le devoir
concludes, “Babayan is a genius. Period.”

Summer festivals: Aspen, Vail, Vancouver, and more

Babayan is active in the States this summer. He performs Mozart’s Ninth Piano Concerto, the
“Jeunehomme,” at Maine’s Bowdoin International Music Festival (Aug 2) and gives solo
recitals at Colorado’s International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival (Aug 6) and Canada’s
Vancouver Piano Sessions (Aug 9). These August engagements follow returns to two more
Colorado festivals: Bravo! Vail, where his residency combines a solo recital (June 27) with a
program of Rachmaninoff piano duos, performed with his former student and frequent duo
partner Daniil Trifonov (June 24), and the Aspen Music Festival, where he and Trifonov reprise their program (June 29). “The firepower they achieved together is rare among piano duos,”writes the New York Times of their partnership, while BBC Music magazine hails their recent
recording of Rachmaninoff’s duos as “a winning mix of limitless pianism, deep knowledge and visionary boldness.”

Solo recitals: “Songs,” Bach, and more

Babayan believes that every recital should offer a spiritual dimension. Combining solo works with
piano transcriptions of songs by composers from Schubert, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff to
Harold Arlen, Charles Trenet, and Armenian folk hero Komitas, his thoughtfully curated new
solo program will explore the evolution of lieder, folksong, and the elusive art of melody. Babayan
says: “How to write a good melody is something one cannot learn. It is a gift one either has
or has not. In all study of the art of composition, melody remains the ultimate mysterium.”

“Songs” will figure prominently in his 2024-25 lineup. By way of a preview, this summer he gives
solo recitals of Liszt’s solo piano transcriptions of Schubert lieder, together with music by
Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Grieg, Kreisler, Hahn, Fauré, Mompou, Bizet, Poulenc, Gershwin, and
others, in Oxford, UK (July 30), Shanghai (Aug 28), and Seoul (Aug 30).

Babayan’s fall recital schedule also takes him to Dortmund, Germany, for a performance of
Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Oct 31). The UK’s Independent praises the pianist’s “compelling
authority” in Bach; after a previous account of the Goldbergs, the Chicago Classical Review
observed: “Babayan seems so at home with this music that he really does sound as if he
could be spontaneously creating it. The music sounded organic and inevitable.” Click here to
see Babayan perform the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the 2023 Verbier Festival.

Concerto collaborations: Brahms, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff

Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto is a profound and monumental work that dates from the
composer’s maturity. This is the vehicle for Babayan’s upcoming debut with Brazil’s São Paulo
Symphony, under the baton of Xian Zhang, Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony (June
13–15).

Having studied with legendary teachers Lev Naumov, Vera Gornostayeva, and Mikhail Pletnev at
the Moscow Conservatory, the pianist is a recognized master of the Russian concerto repertoire.
This summer and fall, he performs Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with Thailand’s Royal
Bangkok Symphony (Aug 24), France’s Orchestre symphonique de l’Opéra de Toulon (Sep
19), and Belgium’s Antwerp Symphony, led by its Chief Conductor, Elim Chan (Dec 13 & 14).
After a performance of the same concerto last fall, the Boston Musical Intelligencer reported that:
“Babayan delivered a sensitive, utterly thrilling performance,” in which “his magisterial
technique [was] almost as thrilling as his tender musicality.” The review counseled: “Next
time he is in Boston, RUN to see him!” Click here to see Babayan perform Rachmaninoff’s Third
Piano Concerto with the Mannheim Philharmonic.

Babayan’s remaining fall dates will be announced shortly.

About Sergei Babayan

Now an American citizen who lives in New York City, Sergei Babayan was born in Armenia during
the Soviet occupation. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory, he made his
breakthrough in the West with first-prize wins at the Cleveland, Hamamatsu, and Scottish
International Piano Competitions. Since then, he has appeared with some of the foremost
orchestras worldwide, including the Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra,
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. He also
performs at major festivals, including Salzburg and Verbier, and at prestigious venues, from New
York’s Carnegie Hall to London’s Wigmore Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna
Konzerthaus, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Zurich Tonhalle, and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
His chamber music partners include Martha Argerich, Daniil Trifonov, Ivry Gitlis, and the
Borodin Quartet.

As an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2018, Babayan has made three recordings
for the label. His groundbreaking solo collection, Rachmaninoff, was chosen as BBC Music’s
“Recording of the Month,” welcomed as “61 minutes of piano heaven” (Classics Today), and
heralded as “a masterclass in how to put the music first” (Ludwig-Van). Recorded with
Argerich, Prokofiev for Two captures Babayan’s own two-piano transcriptions, prompting
MusicWeb International to marvel: “World-class playing by both performers and the Babayan
transcriptions are destined to be taken up by other pianists and incorporated into the
mainstream repertoire. Outstanding.” Most recently, Rachmaninoff for Two was recorded with
Trifonov and released this past March to mark the composer’s 150th anniversary (see above).

Having previously taught for many years at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Babayan now
serves on the piano faculties of New York’s Juilliard School and Dallas’s SMU Meadows School
of the Arts, where he is the Joel Estes Tate Endowed Chair in Piano and Artist in Residence.

High-resolution photos can be downloaded here.

www.sergeibabayan.com/en
www.facebook.com/SergeiBabayan
www.instagram.com/babayansergei
twitter.com/sergeibabayan

Sergei Babayan: upcoming engagements

June 13–15
São Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo Symphony / Xian Zhang
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2

June 24 & 27
Vail, Colorado
Bravo! Vail
June 24
Duo recital with Daniil Trifonov
RACHMANINOFF: duos
June 27
Solo recital

June 29
Aspen, CO
Aspen Music Festival
Duo recital with Daniil Trifonov
RACHMANINOFF: duos

July 30
Oxford, England
Holywell Music Room
“Songs” recital
SCHUBERT/LISZT: “Erlkönig”, “Auf dem Wasser zu singen” and others
Lieder by SCHUMANN, RACHMANINOFF, GRIEG, KREISLER, HAHN, FAURÉ, MOMPOU, BIZET, POULENC,
GERSHWIN, and others

Aug 2
Brunswick, ME
Bowdoin International Music Festival
Festival Orchestra / Peter Bay
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 9, “Jeunehomme”

Aug 6
Fort Collins, CO
International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival
Solo recital

Aug 9
Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver Piano Sessions
Solo recital

Aug 24
Bangkok, Thailand
Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra / Tomàs Grau
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3

Aug 28
Shanghai, China
Shanghai Oriental Arts Center
“Songs” recital

Aug 30
Seoul, Korea
Seoul Arts Center
“Songs” recital

Sep 19
Toulon, France
Orchestre symphonique de l’Opéra de Toulon
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3

Oct 31
Dortmund, Germany
Konzerthaus Dortmund
Solo recital
BACH: Goldberg Variations

Dec 13 & 14
Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra / Elim Chan
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3

[Additional fall dates to be announced shortly]

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© 21C Media Group, June 2024