ANGELA
CHOLAKIAN
B i o g r a p h y
"...pianist Angela Cholakian immediately commands attention by her unflinching technique and uncompromising mastery of the music at hand. Her expressive playing always suits the style, and even adds to the character..."
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Jean-Yves Duperron
October 29, 2014
CLASSICAL MUSIC SENTINAL, France
"...as abundantly skilled and authoritative as Angela Cholakian, whose vibrant, never less than intelligent playing breathes authority from the first note...Her technique is formidable, her musical understanding comprehensive, and her spirit infectious."
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John Bell Young
FANFARE MAGAZINE, Issue 38:4 Mar/Apr 2015
" Angela Cholakian is a talented young artist of a romantic style. Her playing is passionate, poetic, and virtuosic. "
Yevgeny Malinin,
Professor of Piano, Moscow State
Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia
" Her strong stage personality and charisma captured me from the first note until the end. That is one of the greatest things that she has that I believe will make her a big career. "
Hagai Shaham,
Professor of Violin, Buchmann-Mehta
School of Music, Tel Aviv University
" Ms. Cholakian is a great artist, world class performer and phenomenal teacher. "
Norman Krieger,
Professor of Piano, USC
Thornton School of Music
"Angela is one of the most outstanding concert pianists today."
Alice Schoenfeld,
Professor of Violin, USC
Thornton School of Music
"...pianist Angela Cholakian immediately commands attention by her unflinching technique and uncompromising mastery of the music at hand. Her expressive playing always suits the style, and even adds to the character..."
​
Jean-Yves Duperron
October 29, 2014
CLASSICAL MUSIC SENTINAL, France
"...as abundantly skilled and authoritative as Angela Cholakian, whose vibrant, never less than intelligent playing breathes authority from the first note...Her technique is formidable, her musical understanding comprehensive, and her spirit infectious."
​
John Bell Young
FANFARE MAGAZINE, Issue 38:4 Mar/Apr 2015
Angela Cholakian began to take piano lessons in Russia at the age of four. She was already a pupil of a music school when she was six, and when she was thirteen, she was accepted by the "Tchaikovsky Central School for Gifted Children", where she caused a sensation with public performances of Liszt's E flat major, Chopin's F minor and Brahms's D minor piano concertos. At the age of seventeen she began to study music at the Moscow Conservatory with Yevgeny Malinin, Heinrich Neuhaus's last assistant. She was particularly renowned for her dedication to contemporary works and for the meticulousness with which she worked on these with their composers, for example the famous Arno Babajanian, whose complete piano works she performed in concert.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cholakian emigrated to America and founded the well-known "Tchaikovsky Music Academy" in Los Angeles, where piano in the tradition of classical Russian style was taught. For ten years she was the Director of this artistic academy, where numerous students from the "Curtis Institute of Music" and the famous "Juilliard School" came to take additional private lessons with Cholakian. During this period, she also received her American "Artist Diploma" and the "Dr. of Musical Arts in Piano Performance". Angela Cholakian, who has given concerts in America, Europe, Asia and the former Soviet Union, is a pianist whose phenomenal technique always serves her musical convictions and passion. Today, she also teaches as Professor for Piano at a Chinese Music University because she is convinced that the heritage of musical tradition will become increasingly important if "the world is not to be laid to waste time and again".
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Cholakian makes tremendous demands on art, and the extremes of her artistic spectrum stand out clearly in her interpretations. They range from gentle, lyrical, finely-strung poetic expression to passionate, eruptive piano virtuosity that, despite its perfect technique, always serves the musical context and is never reduced to showmanship. Angela Cholakian thus seems to be a worthy successor to the art of such pianists as Gilels and Richter, although she is more convinced than either of these that her legacy must be passed on "if everything is to be meaningful".
UPCOMING EVENTS
EVENTS 2017 & 2018
EVENTS 2016
November 1-4, 2016
Grotrian International Piano Competition
China Finals (Sponsored by Grotrian of
Germany and Parsons of China)
Adjudicator
Suzhou, China
October 2-4, 2016
Alfred First International Piano Competition
China Finals (SHANGHAI CONSERVATORY)
Adjudicator
Shanghai, China
September 24, 2016
Suzhou Arts and Culture Centre
Piano Recital Series
Solo Recital
Suzhou, China
July 25, 2016
Alfred and Shanghai Publishing House
Lecture
Suzhou, China
July 19-23, 2016
Second CHINA-KOREA International Piano Competition
Adjudicator
MinorIncheon, South Korea
July 17-18, 2016
FIRST ALFRED INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION
Adjudicator
Beijing, China
July 12-16, 2016
HONG KONG TOUR
Lectures at Parsons Music
Athenaeum of Italy and Orch Academy:
Lectures and masterclass
Tai Po Civic Center
Recital
HongKong
July 11, 2016
Guangzhou DoReMi Academy
Masterclass
Guangzhou, China
July 9, 2016
Shanghai International Piano Festival and Institute (Opening Gala)
Performance with Shanghai Philharmonic
Shanghai Concert Hall
Shanghai, China
July 8, 2016
Hong Kong Liszt Competition Preliminaries
Adjudicator
Suzhou, China
July 3, 2016
STEINWAY OF SUZHOU
Masterclass
Suzhou, China
July 2, 2016
SUZHOU ARTS and CULTURE CENTER
Solo Recital
Masterclass
Suzhou, China
June 18, 2016
WUXI GRAND THEATER
Solo Recital
Wuxi, China
June 11, 2016
NANJING ARTS AND CULTURE CENTER
"World Voices Series"
Solo Recital
Masterclass
Nanjing, China
June 5, 2016
SUZHOU ARTS and CULTURE CENTER
Soochow University School of Music
Faculty Recital
Suzhou, China
June 1, 2016
STEINWAY of NANTONG
20th anniversary of the establishment
Solo Recital
Suzhou, China
May 20, 2016
SUZHOU ARTS and CULTURE CENTER
Show (ballet, piano)
Suzhou, China
May 5, 2016
SOCHOOW UNIVERSIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Trio Recital
with Bin Huang, violin
Alexander Suleiman, cello
Suzhou, China
April 29-30, 2016
REGENSBURG, GERMANY
CD Recording
TYXarts Label
Germany
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April 4, 2016
FIRST CHINA NATIONAL EDUCATION FORUM
Lecture
Beijing, China
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October 18, 2018
Jiangsu Province Higher Art and Music Education Exchange Forum and Concert
Nantong University School of Art
August 20-24, 2018
Liszt "Memorial Prize" Hong Kong Open Piano Competition
Hong Kong
July 6, 2018
Liszt Memorial Prize Hong Kong Piano Competition, China preliminaries
Suzhou, China
June 17, 2018
Yamaha masterclass-promotion of distant learning project
Suzhou, China
June 10, 2018
Wiesbaden International Festival
May 25-28, 2018
Yamaha masterclass-promotion of distant learning project
Suzhou, China
May 19-20, 2018
Shanghai Spring Piano E-Competition
April 22, 2018
Dongwu Competition
Suzhou Association for Arts and Culture
April 14-16, 2018
Beijing Masterclass with the students of Beijing Central Conservatory Affliated Middle School students
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April 6-7, 2018
Talent International Piano Competition, Shanghai Finals
Shanghai
March 20, 2018
2018 Kaleidoscope International Arts Festival in Spain, Shanghai Finals
Shanghai
March 11, 2018
2018 International Talent Piano Competition Kunshan auditions
January 13-14, 2018
2018 International Talent Piano Competition
Suzhou auditions
January 6-7, 2018
Masterclass/lecture
DoReMi Academy
Guangzhou, China
December 16, 2017
Municipal Center of Public Culture
Suzhou, China
November 25, 2017
Suzhou Symphony Orchestra
Arts and Culture Center
Beethoven - Concerto No. 3, Op. 37
Suzhou, China
November 21, 2017
National Music Competition for the Young Artists
Adjudicator
Manila, Philippines
October 20-21, 2017
Futian District Teachers' Association
Lecture and Masterclass
Shenzhen Concert Hall, Steinway Showroom
Shenzhen, China
October 2-4, 2017
8th National Steinway Piano Competition
Regional Finals
Adjudicator
Nanjing, China
September 15, 2017
In concert with Marco Thomas (principal clarinet Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) and
Paul Silverthorne (principal viola London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Enling Art Center
Suzhou, China
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September 17-18, 2017
8th National Steinway Piano Competition
Adjudicator
Wuxi Grand Theatre
Wuxi, China
November 25, 2017
Suzhou Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.3, in C minor
Suzhou, China
August 19 - 20, 2017
Boya International Piano Competition and Festival
Suzhou, China
June 15 - 16, 2017
Steinway Piano Competition
Wuxi, China
June 8 - 10, 2017
Woerthersee Classics Festival
Mozart Saal, Klagenfurt,
"All Franz Hummel" Recital
Austria
June 3, 2017
Hong Kong International Piano Competition Preliminaries
Chang Shu, China
July 1- 2, 2017
Zhangjiagang Grand Theater
Piano Competition Finals,
Zhangjiagang, China
Adjudicator
May 26 - June 4, 2017
Masterclasses and lectures
Beijing, China
May 20, 2017
Yamaha masterclass and lecture,
Suzhou, China
April 26 - 28, 2017
Aobo Arts School
Masterclass and lecture
Shenzhen, China
April 21 - 24, 2017
Masterclasses and lectures
Beijing, China
March 6, 2017
Jiaoting-Liverpool University
Lecture, "Music and Math" series,
Suzhou, China
February, 2017
World release of the new CD
January, 14-15
U.S. Music Certification Competition
Adjudicator
Suzhou, China
January 6, 2017
Release of the new CD in Germany