Sofya Melikyan

Pianist Sofya Melikyan has converted international training into an international career as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician. She has made several recordings. Melikyan was born on February 11, 1978, in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. She attended the city's Pyotr Tchaikovsky Music School, studying with Anahit Shahbazyan. Melikyan moved to Spain in 1994, studying at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid with Joaquín Soriano. She went on to the École Normale de Musique in Paris, studying with Ramsey Vassa and New York's Manhattan School of Music on the Solomon Mikowski Scholarship. Melikyan also took master classes from Vitaly Margulis, among others, and she has pointed to mentorship from Brigitte Engerer, Galina Eguiazarova, and Elena Tatulyan as beneficial. She won several top prizes, including those at the Ibiza International Piano Competition and the Marisa Montiel International Piano Competition in Spain. In 2018, Melikyan released her debut album, the recital Women: Gubaidina, Chitchian, Saariaho, Quiaro, on the IBS label. Melikyan's touring schedule reflects the diversity of her training. She has undertaken tours in Western Europe, North America, Russia, Japan, and Australia, as well as in her native Armenia. Her orchestral credits include appearances with the Armenian Philharmonic, the Valencia Symphony Orchestra, and the New Europe Chamber Orchestra, among other groups, and she has made extensive broadcast appearances, including those on U.S. radio stations WQXR in New York and WFMT in Chicago. Melikyan is also active as a chamber musician; she has performed as a member of the Sima Trio, and in 2021, she was heard on a recording of Brahms piano trios with violinist David Haroutunian and cellist Mikayel Hakhnazaryan on the Rubicon label. She has continued to record for IBS and Rubicon, joining flutist Eduardo Costa Roldán on his album Perfil del aire on IBS and releasing the recital Présence lointaine on Rubicon, both in 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo