armenpress: CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN FIRST FOREIGNER AWARDED

&nbsp&nbsp MOSCOW, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS:
The president of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has awarded Maestro Constantine Orbelian (USA) the “Zasliuzhenni Artist Rossii” (Honored Artist of Russia) title. Orbelian become the first foreigner to get this title in history.

&nbsp&nbsp Constantine Orbelian has held the position of Music Director and Conductor of the renowned Moscow Chamber Orchestra since 1991. He was brought up in San Francisco, received his early musical education at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and subsequently graduated from The Juilliard School of Music in 1980. He made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at the age of eleven.

&nbsp&nbsp As a pianist Constantine Orbelian, whose performance schedule has included numerous concerts in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, has been acclaimed for his “buoyant, brilliantly detailed and effortlessly agile” performances (The Guardian) and his “impressive power and sweep” (Ovation). “His technique is superb,” proclaimed Fanfare magazine. His many orchestral engagements included appearances with some of the world’s best orchestras. Performances with the Boston and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, the Moscow State Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the “Moscow Virtuosi” Orchestra have been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

&nbsp&nbsp He has collaborated with conductors Valery Gergiev, Neeme Jarvi, Vassily Sinaisky, Alexander Dmitriev, Vladimir Spivakov and many others. Constantine Orbelian’s recordings on the CHANDOS label have received international acclaim. In fact, his recording of the Khachaturian Piano Concerto with Maestro Neeme Jarvi and the Scottish National Orchestra received the “Best Concerto of the Year” award in the U.K. Critics raved: “He simply plays the living daylights out of the concerto, exhibiting finger work of Horowitzian brilliance and unlimited stamina” (Stereo Review). Other recordings include the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1, the Bach Concerto in F Minor, the Mozart Concerto in A Major, K.414 with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra as soloist and conductor, the Beethoven Concerto No.1 with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, and the Piano Quintets of Shostakovich and Schnittke with the Moscow String Quartet.

&nbsp&nbsp As Music Director and Conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Constantine Orbelian has remained true to the traditions that made this orchestra unique. Under his baton, the orchestra has performed in the most prestigious concert halls of Europe and America, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Frankfurter “Alte Oper,” the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Yearly concert tours take the orchestra to France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Korea and Japan.

&nbsp&nbsp With Constantine Orbelian, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra continues to capture the imagination of audiences and live up to its reputation as one of the best chamber orchestras in the world. Constantine Orbelian is Founder and Music Director of two unique music festivals in Russia – The Palaces of St. Petersburg International Chamber Music and Choir Festival which produces 30 concerts in the most beautiful and extraordinary residences of the Czars, and “Musical Treasures at the Museums of the Kremlin,” a unique series of concerts at the Kremlin’s Armory.