Ellada Chakoyan, Ruben Aivazian

Armenian-born soprano Ellada Chakoyan is a top prize winner of the Maria Callas International Competition in Athens and other voice competitions in Moscow, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Moldavia. Her education in Armenia was followed by training at Opera La Scala in Milan, where she received a special prize and medal from both Milan's Department of Culture and the Conservatory of Giuseppe Verdi for her "Excellence in Italian grand opera interpretation." Ms. Chakoyan was also honored with a special diploma for best performance in the Janácek Festival in Czechoslovakia. Her performances as a soloist and as prima donna of Opera Yerevan have been broadcast on Russian and Armenian radio and television. Ms. Chakoyan has performed with orchestras in the U.S.A. and with the national orchestras of Russia, Poland, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldavia, and Rumania.

Dubbed "the Armenian Nightingale" in Milan, Chakoyan has appeared in major opera houses and concert halls, including the Bolshoi and Tschaikowsky in Moscow, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Kirov in St. Petersburg, Alice Tully Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Kensington Town Hall in London, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, La Scala Recital Hall in Milan, Teatro Grande in Brescia (Italy), Teatro Olimic in Athens, and Philharmonic halls in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Switzerland, Spain, and Canada. Now a U.S. citizen, Ms. Chakoyan has lived in New York since 1989.

Rouben Aivazian, organist, a PhD graduate of Moscow's Tschaikowsky Conservatory, teaches piano in New York. He was formerly Professor of Piano at the State Pedagogical University (St. Petersburg, Russia) and at the Armenian State Conservatory (Yerevan). Mr. Aivazian has performed in more than 100 concerts with the National Philharmonic Orchestras of Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania, and was engaged as a solo pianist with the Russian State Concert Company "Lenconcert" in St. Petersburg from 1976-1991. He is the winner of several international piano contests.

To CD #LE341 (Ave Maria CD)

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