GRAND PACIFIC FESTIVAL OF ARTS
Connecting Arts | Inspiring Creativity
Kseniia Vokhmianina
Ukraine-Singapore
Hailed as a performer with “artistry of the highest order” by The Straits Times and “maturity of musicianship and virtuosity” by Pianomania, Kseniia Vokhmianina has gained critical and audience attention as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.
At 18, Kseniia was awarded the Lee Foundation Scholarship and the Tuition Grant from the Ministry of Education of Singapore to pursue a Diploma in Music Performance at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), class of Boris Kraljevic. Kseniia is also the recipient of a prestigious scholarship to pursue a degree at the Royal College of Music in London (UK). Further studies took Kseniia to the Zurich University of the Arts (Switzerland), where she obtained the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Classical Music Performance, class of Konstantin Scherbakov.
Kseniia began her music training at a very young age in her native Ukraine. Her awards at various competitions include the First Prize at the IX International Piano Competition (Serbia), and the Golden Piano Prize at the International Forum of Pianists in Sanok (Poland), among many others. She was recently awarded the top prize in her category as well as two special prizes, including the Best Musical Performance at the “Clavis Bavaria 2020” International Piano Competition (Germany).
Besides touring around Europe as a solo and chamber music artist, Kseniia also initiated “By Candlelight” chamber music series in Singapore, with the support of the Arts House, as programme curator and performer. She has performed with various international symphony orchestras since 8, including recent engagements with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and Murmansk Philharmonic Orchestra.
Zorik Bazinyan
Ecuador
Zorik Bazinyan, a viola section leader of the Guayaquil Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vivaldi Chamber Orchestra of Municipality of Guayaquil and has an extensive orchestral and pedagogical experience.
Alumni of the Yerevan State Conservatory in Armenia under tutelage of the Prof. Alexander Kosemyan, Zorik Bazinyan has been living and working in Ecuador since 2003. As part of his education curriculum, Zorik has received master classes in Chamber Music with Professor María Egelhof Luebeck Hochschule (Germany).
Within his extensive orchestral experience, he has served as Violist of the Yerevan State Conservatory Symphony Orchestra; Chamber Orchestra "Naregatsi"; Chamber Orchestra "Alan Hovhannes"; Chamber Orchestra "Serenade"; “Yerevan” Youth Chamber Orchestra and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a Violist he toured in various parts of the world including Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, USA, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Italy with different orchestras and quartets.
Zorik served as a member of the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra during the period 2004-2016. He has also held the chair of viola at the Experimental Institute of Music of the University of Guayaquil (IEMUG) from 2004 to 2014.
Since 2012 Zorik Bazinyan is appointed as the chair of Viola department at the University of Espírito Santo (UEES), Ecuador.
Sakura Yazaki
japan
Sakura Yazaki, has given performance at various concerts since her debut at the young age. She graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music and continued her postgraduate studies by Japanese Government Overseas Study Programme for Artists at the Ino Mirkovich Music Academy in Croatia with Prof. Evgeny Zarafiants. She has also taken lessons with Prof.Konstantin Sirounian, Prof. Evgeny Zarafiants, Prof. Hiroko Nakamura, Prof. Hidemitsu Hayashi and Prof. Shizuko Murate.
Sakura also studied chamber music from 2003 to 2005 in Vienna, and she was an accompanist at the violin class of Prof. Dorice Kostenberger at the Vienna Conservatorium. From 2005 to 2008 Sakura was active in Spain and returned to her native Tokyo in 2009. She has given performance at various concerts; including piano solos; chamber music, in Croatia, Austria, Spain and Japan.
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In addition, she has been in charge of promoting international cultural exchange related to music, painting, dancing, literature at the Armenian Embassy in Tokyo and has held numerous training, seminars and music festivals .
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Sakura is currently teaching in Tokyo and keeps performing with various chamber groups and accompanying soloists.
Ani Umedyan
armenia-singapore
A versatile and active chamber musician with wide range of repertoire Ani Umedyan is originally from Armenia. A Master of Music Performance and alumni of Yerevan State Conservatory where she was invited to teach at Chamber Music Faculty, Ani is living in Singapore since 2008. She is active not only on the local stage but also in nurturing students to get their diplomas and ace their music competitions. Growing up, Ani was always involved in a great number of concerts in various countries of Europe, Australia and the Middle East as well as participated in music festivals and master courses across the globe.
Ani Umedyan is a wanted guest artist at important concert halls in Germany, Netherlands, UAE, and Australia. She is in professional cooperation with many orchestras, conductors, pianists, and chamber ensembles. Over the years, Ani collaborates with Philippe Graffin (France), Maria Egelhoff (Germany), Levon Chilingirian (UK), Charles Avsharian (USA), Andrea Bocelli (Italy), Rafael Serrallet (Spain), Michaela Martin (Romania), Koh Gabriel Kameda (Germany) and many others.
Locally, Ani is a co-founder of the "Armenian Heritage Ensemble", a group of Armenian artists, living and performing in Singapore, and a co-founder of Triolah Piano Trio; having performed with both ensembles extensively across Asia. Ani is also a violin sectional trainer of the Singapore Chinese Girls School String Ensemble.
In recent years, Ani has started to explore mosaic art. Tonight’s exhibit is the first public showcase of some of her major works, made with much love and passion.
Karen Israelyan
japan
Japan based violinist Karen Israelyan began his musical studies at a young age. In 2002 he graduated with honors from university, and completed his post graduate studies at the Yerevan State Komitas Conservatory. Karen continued his studies at the Vienna Conservatory in Austria, and is the winner of the international violin competition ,,Giovani Talenti,, (San Bartalameo, Italy, 2004).
In 2005 he won an audition as orchestra member of Liceu Opera Academy Orchestra in Barcelona, Spain, while teaching violin. In 2009 Karen moved to Tokyo, Japan, and has been a regular member of the IlluminArt Philharmonic Orchestra Tokyo since 2011.
Karen performances include a number of solo concerts and collaborations, such as with classical guitarists in his JuGen Project, incorporating the Japanses koto (Japanese harp) and classical harp. He is the founder and director of AREV ARTS Management since 2014 and AREV ARTS music school in Tokyo, and is a guest musician in several music festivals in Japan and abroad.
In 2019 Karen debuted in Carnegie Hall (New York) as a member of AGBU Performing Arts artist.