Kariné Poghosyan
NEW YORK—Pianist Kariné Poghosyan will perform a concert in honor of the 100th anniversary of the premiere of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at 8 p.m. at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. This concert, presented by The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations, will also feature works by Alberto Ginastera, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Tania León and Arno Babajanian.
“‘Rhapsody in Blue’ is to me one of those iconic works that speaks to absolutely everyone,” says Poghosyan. “It is a stellar example of what Gershwin was aiming for with his compositions – erasing boundaries between different genres and styles of music. Therefore, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its premiere, I have created a program that highlights that magical combination of classical, jazz and Latin elements, alongside works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Alberto Ginastera and Tania Leon, with a bit of my Armenian roots sprinkled in through virtuosic selections by Arno Babajanian.”
The Armenian-American Poghosyan made her orchestral debut at the age of 14 playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and her solo Carnegie Hall debut at 23, and she has since gone on to win numerous awards as well as perform in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. This year, Poghosyan released her third album Folk Themes on Parma Recordings’ classical label Navona Records. “A body of work that’s passionate and exploratory, Folk Themes illustrates much tenderness and vibrancy via Poghosyan’s riveting playing” (Take Effect Reviews).
Poghosyan has been praised on the world stage for her “bewitching detail and thunderous power” (New York Music Daily). Her most recent concerts include two sold-out recitals at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, the second of which was a CD release concert of her Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky recording on Centaur Records. This recording has since garnered rave reviews, with Gramophone Magazine praising its “masterly textural layering and resounding climaxes,” and the American Record Guide stating, “A more heroic program would be hard to find, and few could play as well as the Armenian-American Poghosyan.” WWFM radio host Jed Distler described her performance as “big piano playing, but big in the sense of being in the moment, being present, and totally owning her vitality and imagination.”
Poghosyan is the winner of the New West Symphony Discovery Artists Competition, the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, CSUN Symphony Concerto Competition, the Artists International Auditions and was a top prize winner in the Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition, Five Towns Music and Arts Competition, and the Arno Babajanian Piano Competition.
She received her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees at the Manhattan School of Music, under Dr. Arkady Aronov, completing her D.M.A. in a record-breaking two years, with a thesis on Aram Khachaturian for Piano. Poghosyan is currently based in New York, where she teaches at her alma mater, the Manhattan School of Music.
During the pandemic, Poghosyan performed 100 Facebook live concerts, which received coverage from Stephanie Simon of NY1, Rick Rowe of ABC, Katie Couric’s newsletter Wake-up Call, as well as in an article in the Pianist Magazine. She also has a monthly virtual concert series on her Patreon, with a global audience of patrons tuning in on Zoom to enjoy the professional studio broadcasts. This past season, she performed solo recitals at Ehrbar Saal in Vienna and the Soraya Performing Arts Center in Northridge, California, as well as concerti performances with Wallingford Symphony and Evanston Symphony Orchestras. This season, Poghosyan has made her solo recital debut in Milan, Italy, as well as the Sheldon in Saint Louis.
Tickets for the Valentine’s Day concert are $35-75 (seniors and student discounts available at the box office with valid ID) and are available at www.carnegiehall.org, the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800.