site.btaArmenian Violinist Sergey Khachatryan Returns to Bulgaria Hall

Sergey Khachatryan, the youngest winner in the history of the Sibelius competition, is returning to Sofia on May 18 at Bulgaria Hall, the Sofia Philharmonic said on Friday.

Stravinsky's Violin Concerto will be performed under the baton of conductor Luis Gorelik. In the second part of the programme the Sofia Philharmonic will present Mahler's Fourth Symphony with soloist Marija Jelic.

The Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan came to the attention of world critics and audiences in 2000 when he won first prize in the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition (Helsinki), thus becoming the youngest winner in the competition's history. In 2005 he also won first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.

He has made appearances with the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, La Scala Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Orchestre du Paris, the Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, and NHK. He has worked with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel, Jakub Hrusa, Hugh Wolff, Stanislav Kochanowski, Yuri Temirkanov, Andris Nelson, Daniele Gatti.

Soprano Marija Jelic began her career in the opera studio of the Belgrade National Theatre and at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad with the roles of Micaela ("Carmen"), Mimi ("La Boheme"), Aida and Tosca. She has appeared on stages in Russia, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Italy, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, North Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. She has performed solo parts in concerts of the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra during its tours in China.

Maestro Luis Gorelik is a graduate of Mandy Rodan at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. He began his active concert career as guest conductor of dozens of orchestras in Israel, Slovenia, Iceland, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, North Macedonia, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Serbia. He was a finalist in the First Sibelius Conducting Competition in Helsinki in 1995, and has been a long-time guest conductor at the Ljubljana Festival.