Sevak Avanesyan - Cellist

"Sevak Avanesyan's technical skills - including his cello sound, his rhythmic control, his perfect intonation, his natural sense of tempi - are obvious to anyone who hears him play, but he impressed me above all by his deep musicality and by his constant willingness to search and find the real meaning of the music behind the notes." - Andrey Boreyko, Music Director of Artis - Naples

Sevak Avanesyan is described as "a musician of extraordinary virtuosity and a remarkable range of sound capacities" (Bernard Greenhouse) and "undoubtedly, one of the most gifted musicians of his generation” (Janos Starker).

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Born in Armenia in 1989 into a musical family, Sevak began studying cello at the age of five with the well-known Armenian cellist Medea Abrahamyan, a pupil of the legendary Mstislav Rostropovitsch. He continued studying at the Tchaikovsky Specialised Secondary and Music School in Yerevan until 2003. That year his whole family moved to Brussels (Belgium) where he joined the class of Ms Viviane Spanoghe at the Royal Conservatory. He graduated with the highest distinction in 2010 and was admitted to the class of the well-known cellist Claudio Bohorquez at the "Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler" in Berlin.

Photo : Evgeny Evtyukhov

In addition to his regular studies, Sevak Avanesyan has received valuable advice from world-renowned artists such as Janos Starker, Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Isserlis, Mischa Maisky, Maria Kliegel, Lluis Claret, Peter Bruns, Garry Hoffman, Wolfgang Boettcher, Igor Oistrakh, Artemis Quartet, Gerhard Schulz and many others.

Since his youngest age, Sevak has travelled the world as a member of the "Young Virtuosos" of AMAA (Armenian Missionary Association of America). He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Ford Hall in Toronto, Sidney Opera House, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Recent concert seasons have brought him to such festivals as the Festival de Radio France Montpellier, the Festival of Menton and the Brahms Festival (Brussels).

Sevak is a laureate of many international competitions, including the “Concours International de Violon, Alto et Violoncelle de Gérardmer-Kichompré” (France), the European Competition for Young Soloists in Luxembourg (first prize), the "Lions Club" European competition (first prize), and the "Golden Label" prize of the Belgian Music Press Association, and winner of the first prize of the promotion "Belgische Stichting Roeping" (Belgian Foundation Vocation) and many more.

Sevak has worked with highly respected conductors such as Hans Graf, Hugh Wolff, Andrey Boreyko and George Pehlivanian. As an avid chamber musician, Sevak Avanesyan also performed with many well-known musicians such as Augustin Dumay, Philippe Graffin, Pascal Devoyon, Pavel Gililov, Maxime Vengerov, Alexei Moshkov, and musicians of the younger generation: Aleksandr Khramouchin, Lily Maisky, Julien Libeer, Alissa Margulis, his brother Hrachya Avanesyan and many others.

Since March 2013, Sevak has been solo cellist of the National Orchestra of Belgium for 4 years.

At the end of 2016, the documentary "Rhythm & Intervals" by Comes Chahbazian premiered. This documentary is about the life of Sevak Avanesyan in Berlin in the period 2011-2013. The documentary has already won awards at various festivals and was broadcast on ARTR TV.

Sevak plays on the very first Mateo Goffriller cello from 1689, made available by Mischa Maisky.