KOMITAS MUSIC AND ART STUDIO

ABOUT IRINA BAGHDASARYAN

“I believe that for every student the process of encounter with music is a wonderful discovery of an unusual world … And it is very interesting and exciting for me to participate in this process. The discovery of this unique world and the charm of the piano sound are always an unpredictable search, therefore, for each of my students, individual methods and training programs are always selected and this is always a creative search together with the student. ” (from an interview with journalist Sarah Billingsley 2006).

In her teaching practice, Irina Baghdasaryan relies on the experience and also on traditions of the Armenian and Russian classical schools, the legacy of the European school and jazz traditions of American music.

She grew up in Armenia, which was the part of USSR in a family with a rich musical heritage – teaching music has been part of raising and educating children for generations. Her mother played the piano beautifully herself, her father played the mandolin and could sing opera arias for hours. She began her music lessons very early – at 3.5 years old, then regular piano lessons at the age of 6, and at 14 she was admitted to the State Music College, where her mentor was Seda Simonyan (a student of Professor K. Igumnov).

At the age of 18 she became a student at the Yerevan State Conservatory named after Komitas, where she received her MMA in Piano Pedagogy, Accompaniment and Chamber Ensemble with Cum Laude honors. Here her teachers were Igor Yavryan (student of the winner of the first Tchaikovsky competition, Professor of the Moscow Conservatory L. Vlasenko), Margarita Melik-Stepanyan (student of the composer and Professor G. Saradzhev).

She started giving her first piano lessons at the age of 19, and at the age of 21 she headed the piano department in one of the state music schools. For many years she also taught at her Alma Mater – College of Music in Yerevan. After moving to the USA in 2000, she began working as an accompanist and giving private piano lessons in metro area of Boston. Then in 2005, she opened her private studio in Belmont – Komitas Music and Art Studio, where she now teaches piano, ensemble, theory and history of music. She teaches online classes for students in the UK and Ireland.

Her numerous performances in US as soloist and accompanist include the solo world premiere of Dianne Gulkasyan’s Bagatelle op. 213 “Thank You Notes” in Rivers school conservatory, dedicated to the outstanding pianist Maria Gambaryan (see video above), as an accompanist with violinists like L. Hartunian, N. Dolukhanyan, vocalist N. Karapetyan and their students in ALMA, Brandais University, master classes for teachers and students in Armenia, Russia, USA. Her pupils continued their careers in the USA, Germany, France, Armenia, Russia, Israel. Many of her students have continued their studies in various educational institutions such as NEC, Longy School, Clark University, Carnegie Melon, Georgetown University.

In 2004 she became a member of NEPTA and served as a member of the NEPTA’s Board of Directors in 2016-2019. Professor Baghdasaryan was awarded and named as a Steinway & Sons Top Teacher in 2020, 2021, 2022. She is fluent in English, Armenian, Russian and French.

In addition to a successful pedagogical musical career, she graduated with honors Magna Cum Laude from Yerevan State University with a degree in psychology, as well as the Faculty of Public Professions with a degree in art history.

After the Soviet Union collapsed she was engaged in humanitarian aid to children affected by the earthquake in Armenia in 1988, refugees and wounded during armed conflicts under the programs of UNICEF, MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), then headed the Department of Psychological Rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Hospital in Armenia. The results of these works were presented at international conferences in China and Spain, France, Belgium and were published in several international scientific journals.

She especially emphasizes that her main goal as a musician, teacher and psychologist is to encourage her students not only to learn how to read and perform music, but also to help them understand what is the uniqueness of each piece of music, how it is related to the history, culture, and traditions of their time. To do this, they need to know when and under what circumstances it was written, how language, related arts and even science influenced its creation.

This approach to the study of music helps students develop curiosity and creative imagination and encourages them to conduct their own research, listen to a lot of music, and read – skills that will undoubtedly be useful for them throughout their lives.