"Light and voice" – Concert by the AGBU Sofia Chamber Orc

LUSINE ARAKELYAN

Vocal, Soprano

Lusine Arakelyan was born in 1984 in Gyumri, Armenia.
From 1992 to 1999, she received her first lessons in piano and voice at the “Octet” Music School in Gyumri.

At the age of 16, she gave her first solo recital in Yerevan. Her brilliant vocal technique and rich voice earned her early recognition and acclaim.

From 2001 to 2008, she studied in the vocal department of the Yerevan State Conservatory under Professor Karine Mkrtchyan.
Between 2015 and 2017, she participated in masterclasses with world-renowned sopranos Montserrat Caballé, Cheryl Studer, and Stefania Bonfadelli.
Later, she continued her studies at the Berlin Institute of Arts (2017) and the Bavarian Opera Academy (2019).

Lusine Arakelyan has been awarded at several international festivals and competitions, including:
• Renaissance International Festival-Competition in Gyumri (1st Prize)
• Komitas International Singing Competition in Yerevan (2nd Prize)
• Golden Voice International Competition in Vienna (3rd Prize)

As a guest soloist, she has appeared at numerous international music festivals, such as:
• International Music Festival of G. Gorchitsa with “Zenska Orkestra Salonowa” (Poland)
• 1st Festival “Les Musicales de Babadhat” – solo concert recital in Provence (France)
• Festival in Pisa dedicated to Antonin Miklaszewicz-Kamiński with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lublin (Poland)
• 6th International Competition “Arena of Ardabi” (Telavi, Georgia)

She has performed and collaborated with various orchestras in Armenia and abroad, including:
• Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra
• Armenian State Chamber Orchestra
• Chamber Orchestra of the CONAR Choir (Armenia)
• Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland)
• Ternopil Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine)
• INSO-Lviv Chamber Orchestra (Ukraine)
• “Zenska Orkestra Salonowa” (Poland)

As a concert soloist, she has toured extensively both in Armenia and abroad, performing in the USA, Canada, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Florence, San Giovanni Valdarno, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Babadhat, Warsaw, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Katowice, Rodemsko, Dublin, Denmark, Czarna, and Żnin.

Her repertoire is vast and diverse. With her lyric-dramatic soprano, she performs works by classical composers from the Baroque and Romantic eras, as well as contemporary music by modern composers.

Lusine Arakelyan is also renowned as a vocal pedagogue.
Since 2013, she has been teaching classical singing and vocal ensemble at the Alexei Hekimyan Music School in Yerevan. Her students have won numerous international competitions and have performed in Italy, France, the USA, Russia, Georgia, and China.
She also conducts masterclasses in various music schools in Yerevan and other Armenian cities.

Lusine has served as a jury member for several vocal competitions in Armenia, including “Global Art Fest,” “Nairian,” “Golden Harp,” and others.

GURGEN BABEYAN

Baritone

Baritone Gurgen Babeyan has rapidly established himself as a distinguished interpreter of the Italian bel canto repertoire, delivering an impressive series of debuts on major European stages that have earned him high critical acclaim.

Among his recent appearances are debuts as Don Giovanni in Opera “Carlo Felice” in Genoa, Haly (L’italiana in Algeri) at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Marcello (La Bohème) at the Armenian National Opera, Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) at Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Teatro Verdi in Trieste, as well as performances at the “Dei Due Mondi” Festival in Spoleto and at the Vicenza Festival with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Iván Fischer.

In 2018, OpernWelt Magazine nominated him as “Most Sought-After Singer of the Year.”

His engagements include major roles such as Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, Opéra National de Lorraine, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Verdi in Pisa and Trieste, Theater Basel, Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima, Staatsoper Hannover; Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at Teatro Regio Torino; the Poet (Il Turco in Italia) at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca; and Schaunard (La Bohème) at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, the Armenian National Philharmonic, and Staatsoper Hamburg.

Babeyan has also performed in numerous concerts under the direction of Maestro Riccardo Muti at the Ravenna Festival and at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
He has sung the role of Don Alvaro (Il Viaggio a Reims) at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and at the Golden Hall of Musikverein in Vienna as part of the gala concert Juan Diego Flórez & Friends Rossini Gala.
He performed as Dandini (La Cenerentola) at the Young Generation Festival in the Boboli Gardens in Florence, Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) at Oper Frankfurt, Michele (Il Tabarro) in Concertgebouw Amsterdam with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a guest artist at the White Nights Festival at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.

Gurgen is a graduate of the “Accademia Rossiniana” at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro. He studied vocal performance at the Yerevan State Conservatory and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts under the guidance of Hedwig Fassbender.

At the beginning of his career, he was a member of the Armenian National Opera ensemble, a soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and later joined the Opera Studio as a guest artist at Oper Frankfurt, performing a wide range of roles.

His distinctions include the Second Prize at the “Pavel Lisitsian” Competition in Russia (2013) and the “Young Singer of the Year” Award (2010), presented by the President of the Republic of Armenia.