Komitas: Pieces for Children Tsovinar Suflyan

• Komitas Vardapet (1869 - 1935): Pieces for Children:
• 1Pieces for Children: No. 1, Allegretto amabile00:29
• 2Pieces for Children: No. 2, Allegretto amabile00:30
• 3Pieces for Children: No. 3, Vivo00:26
• 4Pieces for Children: No. 4, Allegro moderato00:46
• 5Pieces for Children: No. 5, Andantino00:58
• 6Pieces for Children: No. 6, Lento01:28
• 7Pieces for Children: No. 7, Vivace00:42
• 8Pieces for Children: No. 8, Moderato con giubilo00:59
• 9Pieces for Children: No. 9, Con alterezza00:27
• 10Pieces for Children: No. 10, Calmo00:39
• 11Pieces for Children: No. 11, Moderato00:41
• 12Pieces for Children: No. 12, Andantino con tenerezza01:35
• Total Runtime09:40

Info for Komitas: Pieces for Children

While Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) is probably the best-known Armenian composer - just think of his world-famous sabre dance from the ballet Gayaneh - works by Komitas and Arno Babadzhanian are rarely heard in this country.

Komitas (1869-1935) was a composer, priest and ethnomusicologist: he made a significant contribution to the research and preservation of Armenian folk music. In his compositions, he imitated the sounds of traditional instruments, capturing the characteristic tone colours of Armenian folk music and the rhythmic movements and gestures of folk dances; his piano music was also inspired by Armenian folk songs and dances. His music remained largely unknown outside Armenia, as did that of Arno Babadzhanjan (1921-1983). He was highly regarded as a composer and virtuoso pianist in his homeland; his compositional work was inspired by composers such as Khachaturian and Rachmaninov and Armenian folk music in equal measure, but also incorporated modernist influences.

Tsovinar Suflyan, piano

Tsovinar Suflyan
Born in Yerevan in 1989, the Armenian pianist Tsovinar Suflyan began playing the piano at the age of five and eventually completed professional studies at the Yerevan State Conservatory with Prof. Sergey Sarajian. A scholarship from the Fondation Elmas (Delémont, Switzerland) enabled her to continue her studies with Prof. Konstantin Lifschitz in Lucerne from 2012, where she completed a master's degree in performance and pedagogy. In addition to her studies, she attends international master classes, including with Hamish Milne, Ashley Vose, Vladimir Kraynev and Philip Cassard.

In addition to her work as a piano teacher, Tsovinar Suflyan performs as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician in various countries in Europe, South America as well as in Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Iran. These include multiple invitations to music festivals such as “Moscow meets Friends” (Kremlin Palace of Arms, Moscow), the Ethel Smyth Festival “On the Road” or the “International Festival of Arts” (National Gallery, Yerevan). She founded the “Duo Sonori” with the Swiss trumpeter Urs Itin in 2017 and shortly afterwards won the “Philip Jones Brass Prize”. She has received further prizes as a soloist from, among others, the Vladimir Spivakov Foundation for talented musicians, the “International Contest of Young Pianists” (Tbilisi, Georgia) and the “Concours d’exécution musicale pour jeunes pianistes Stephan Elmas” (Yerevan, Armenia).

Since 2017, Tsovinar Suflyan has been a pianist at the Richard Wagner Museum Lucerne, where she regularly performs in private and public settings on Wagner's original Erard grand piano from 1858. In the summer of 2020 she was hired for exclusive recordings and professional video production.

In the summer of 2023, Tsovinar recorded her debut CD with sound engineer Andreas Werner. The album with works by 3 Armenian composers – Komitas Vardapet, Aram Khachaturyan and Arno Babadshanyan will be released in early 2024 under the Prospero Classcial label.

This album contains no booklet.