About
Armenian pianist Marianna Abrahamyan is an internationally recognised award-winning pianist and collaborative artist. She has appeared in recital at the Festival Musica Da Casa Menotti in Italy, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, Purcell Room in Southbank Centre and at St Martin in-the-Fields in London, Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, The Cumnock Tryst Festival, Pro Arte Festival in Córdoba, Festival Internacional Encuentros in Buenos Aires, Stavanger Youth Chamber Music Festival, Oslo Cathedral and Kilden Performing Art Centre in Norway. She has performed live in La Matinale de France Musique for Radio France and BBC Classics Unwrapped with Scottish Saxophonist Lewis Banks.
In 2016 she was awarded the Second Prize at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans with an additional five special awards including the Prix SACEM, Prix Samson François, Prix Albert Roussel, Prix des Etudiants du Conservatoire d’Orléans and the Artist-in-Residence scholarship award by the Henry Dutilleux foundation in France.
An in-demand collaborative pianist, Marianna was the recipient of the Hester Dickson Duo Prize for the 2019 Oxenfoord International Festival, founded and directed by Malcolm Martineau. Marianna appeared at the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary Competition 2016, winning the Dennis Horner Accompanist’s Prize. Marianna was a Samling Artist for 2018 and performed for His Royal Highness, King Charles III (at that time The Prince of Wales), at Dumfries House in both 2018 and 2019.
In 2019, with the support of UGAB Buenos Aires, Marianna initiated Komitas-150, a project of performing solo and chamber music works by the influential composer and founder of the Armenian national school of music, Komitas, at the Kirchner Cultural Center in Buenos Aires.
As a proactive proponent of contemporary music, Marianna has collaborated with numerous living composers, including Sir James Macmillan, John Wallace, Philip Hersant, Hèctor Parra, Jay Capperauld, Konrad Mikal Ørhn, Rolf Gupta, Pierre Jodlowski and Alicia Terzian. She has performed with such renowned Scottish ensembles as Red Note Ensemble and Hebrides Ensemble.
Since 2020, Marianna has worked with Karen Cargill as the pianist and artistic advisor on Karen’s Associate Artist programme for young singers at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Projects have included residencies at Drumlanrig Castle and a tour of National Trust for Scotland properties.
In 2021, Marianna began a new collaborative performer/composer partnership with German composer Katrin Klose. The two musicians were invited as Artists-in-Residence at Marchmont Estate, their combined forces culminating in a new piano concerto. Marianna and Red Note Ensemble premiered the concerto as part of the RCS Plug Festival in April 2022. They have appeared at the Perform_Live Festival in Dublin (March 2022) and the RCS Exchange Talks (October 2022) presenting lecture-demonstrations on their process of conception, composition and creation of a new piano concerto.
Marianna began piano study at the age of 5, taught by her mother, followed by a specialised education at the Tchaikovsky Professional Music School for talented children in Armenia. She is a graduate of the University of Agder in Norway (studied with Sveinung Bjelland) and the Yerevan State Conservatoire in Armenia (studied with Armen Babakhanian).
Marianna is currently on the Doctor of Performance Programme (DPerf) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Sinae Lee and Tim Rutherford-Johnson, focusing on the role of dexterity in György Ligeti’s piano music. She has performed Ligeti’s complete cycle of 18 Etudes for piano as part of her doctoral projects.
In addition to her performing activities, Marianna thoroughly enjoys teaching piano and serves as a piano lecturer at the Junior Department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is also a staff accompanist at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.