Pianist Sergei Babayan In CMSDetroit Debut, 3/24

Armenian-born piano virtuoso Sergei Babayan will make his Chamber Music Society of Detroit series debut with a recital on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 8 PM. The concert takes place at Seligman Performing Arts Center, located at 22305 West 13 Mile Road (at Lahser Road) in Beverly Hills. Mr. Babayan's program features music by 19th- and 20th-century composers who were also virtuoso pianists, including works by Liszt, Chopin, Debussy, Ryabov and Rachmaninoff.

Tickets for this concert are priced at $25 - $65 ($12.50 - $32.50 for students) and are available by phone at 313-335-3300 or online at www.CMSDetroit.org.

Program:

Liszt: Ballade No. 2 in B minor, S. 171

Chopin: Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26

Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2

Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12

Debussy: Suite Bergamasque

Vladimir Ryabov: Fantasy in C minor

Rachmaninoff: Moments musicaux, Op 16,

No. 2 in E-flat minor

No. 6 in C major

Sergei Babayan, who studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Mikhail Pletnev and Lev Naumov, was the first pianist from the former USSR to compete and study in the West after the collapse of the Soviet system. In short order, he took first prizes at the Robert Casadesus (now Cleveland), Hamamatsu, and Scottish International Competitions, and was among the top finishers at the Busoni, Queen Elisabeth, and Honens Competitions. Hailed for his emotional intensity, bold energy and remarkable levels of color, Sergei Babayan brings a deep understanding and insight to a stylistically diverse repertoire, adhering to his conviction that "artists must live and work at a fever-pitch in the incessant pursuit of ideal beauty and the highest degree of artistry." Babayan's engagements and tours take him to some of the world's best-known festivals and concert venues, and he has worked with many distinguished conductors, among them Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Neeme Jarvi, and Hans Graf. A sought-after teacher at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, he regularly performs with his now-famous former student Daniil Trifonov. Hailed for the immediacy, sensitivity and depth of his interpretations, Sergei Babayan brings a deep understanding and insight to a stylistically diverse repertoire. This season, Mr. Babayan gave recitals with distinguished pianist Martha Argerich in Cleveland and across Europe.