Ara Malikian

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Ara Malikian, born Lebanon, 1968 in an Armenian family, Ara Malikian began studying the violin at a very early age with his father. His talent was recognized precociously despite the difficulties he encountered because of the war, forcing him even to study during long periods of time in air-raid shelters. He gave his first concert of significance at the age of 12 and when he was 14 a German conductor heard him and obtained a grant from the German government to study in the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover”. At 15 he was the youngest pupil to be admitted in this prestigious centre for higher musical studies.

Later on he furthered his studies in the “Guildhall School of Music & Drama” in London, at the same time receiving lessons from renowned professors like Franco Gulli, Ruggiero Ricci, Ivry Gitlis, Herman Krebbers or members of the Alban Berg Quartet.

His musical and human restlessness have led him to deepen his relationship with his own Armenian roots and to assimilate the music of other cultures like those of the Middle East (Arab and Jewish), Central Europe (gipsy and Klezmer), Argentina (tango) and Spain (flamenco). All this is achieved within a personal language in which the rhythmic and emotional strength of these types of music go hand in hand with the virtuosity and expressiveness of the great European classical tradition.

With a wide-ranging repertoire, that includes the great majority of all the important pieces written for the violin (concerts with orchestra, sonatas and pieces with piano and chamber music) he has also premiered pieces from modern composers like Franco Danatoni, Malcolm Lipkin, Luciano Chailly, Ladislav Kupkovich, Loris Tjeknavorian, Lawrence Roman and Yervand Yernakian. Malikian is also one of the few violinists that plays recitals for solo violin with programs featuring complete cycles of such significance as the “24 Caprices” of Paganini, the “6 Sonatas" of Eugène Ysaÿe and the “Sonatas and Partitas" of J.S. Bach. In his hands these pieces achieve a new musical dimension that make us forget the enormous technical difficulties that they contain.

His extraordinary level and quality as a violinist have been recognised in many competitions of world-wide reputation, among which we can note the First Prizes obtained in the International Competitions “Felix Mendelssohn” (1987, Berlin, Germany) and “Pablo Sarasate” (1995, Pamplona, Spain) besides other prizes like those from the competitions “Niccolo Paganini” (Genoa, Italy), “Zino Francescatti” (Marseille, France), “Rodolfo Lipizer” (Gorizia, Italy), “Jeunesses Musicales” (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), “Rameau” (Le Mans, Francia), “International Artists Guild” (New York, USA), and the “International Music Competition of Japan”. In 1993 he received the “Prize for Artistic Devotion and Achievement” from the German Ministry of Culture.

He has played in the most important concert halls of the world in more than 40 countries on the five continents: New York (Carnegie Hall), Paris (Salle Pleyel), Viene (Musikverein), Toronto (Ford Center), Madrid (Auditorio Nacional and Teatro Real), Venice, Los Angeles, Taipei, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Cuba, Barcelona and Bilbao among others. He has also participated in the festivals at Aspen, Colamar, Prades, Schleswig Holstein, Braunschweig, San Sebastian, Segovia, Bergen, Freden, Metlach and Prague.

As a soloist he has been invited by orchestras of the significance of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Zürich Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Genova Opera Orchestra, Sinfónica de Madrid, Sinfónica de Portugal, Chamber Orchesta of Tubingen, Moscu Virtuosi, Belgrade Philharmonic, Toulouse Chamber Orchesta, Armenia Philharmonic and Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid among others, under the direction of such important directors as Mariss Janssons, Peter Maag, Jesús López Cobos, Vladimir Spivakov, Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez, Luis Antonio García Navarro, Vassili Sinaisky, Edmond de Stoutz, Gudni Emilson, Juan José Mena or Jo Ann Falletta.

At the moment he lives in Madrid, where he is the concertmaster of the “Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid” (Teatro Real), with which he has recently obtained clamorous applause as a soloist in “Le Boeuf sur le Toit” by D. Milhaud, in the version for violin and orchestra, under the direction of Gómez Martínez; and in the “Concerto for Violín and Orchestra in D minor” by Khachaturian under the baton of Jesús López Cobos.

He plays in duo since 1995 with the pianist Serouj Kradjian, also of Armenian origin, with whom he recorded the complete cycle of Sonatas by Robert Schumann (Hänsler) and the record “Miniatures” (Malkrafon), an exquisite anthology of music for violin and piano written by Armenian composers. He has also recorded numerous discs for record companies such as BMG, Auvidis, Trittico Classics and Elite Music, including among many other compositions, the “Four Seasons” of Vivaldi (more than 80,000 copies sold for UNICEF).

His close collaboration with José Luis Montón, one of the most noteworthy flamenco guitarists at this moment, has opened new roads for Spanish music. He has also worked with, among others: the Lebanese singer Fairuz, the flamenco dancers Joaquín Cortés and Belén Maya, the Ensamble Nuevo Tango and the jazz pianist Horacio Icasto. His musicianship has also been called upon by film-music composers like Alberto Iglesias, with whom he recorded the soundtrack for “Hable Con Ella”, the last movie by Almodovar, or Pascal Gainge in “Otro Barrio” by the director Salvador García Ruiz.

Ara Malikian is currently an exclusive artist of Warner Music Spain, where he has released “Manantial” and "De la felicidad" accompanied by the flamenco guitarist José Luis Montón. This last CD has been nominated by the Spanish Academy of Music for the best New Music CD of the year. With Warner Malikian has also recorded a double CD with some of the most significant works of Paganini, including his famous "24 Caprices for Violin Solo", an album with some compositions by Sarasate accompanied by the Armenian pianist Serouj Kradjian, the "Six Sonatas" for violin by Ysaÿe and the "Sonatas and Partitas" by J. S. Bach.

Ara Malikian has been nominated twice for the best classical performance in the 2007 Music Prizes in Spain given by the Spanish Academy for his recording of the Poema Concertante by Xavier Montsalvatge, along with the Castilla y Leon Symphonic Orchestra; as well as for a piece with Joan Valent, Suso Sáiz and Marc Blanes.