Sevak Avanesyan

Cellist/Armenia-Belgium

Armenian cellist Sevak Avanesyan was the youngest graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, graduating at age 19 with the highest distinction. Since, he has held position of the solo cellist of the National Orchestra of Belgium and was a winner of numerous international competitions, among which are First Prizes at the “Young Soloists” competition in Luxembourg, “Lions Club” European competition, “Golden Label” of the Belgian music press association, and “Belgische Stichting Roeping.” He continued his studies with the renowned cellist Claudio Bohorquez at the Hans Eissler Musikhochschule in Berlin, and took master classes from world famous artists such as Janos Starker, Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Isserlis, Mischa Maisky, Maria Kliegel, Liuis Claret, Garry Hofman, Wolfgang Boettcher, Igor Oistrakh, and Artemis Quartet.
A regular guest at leading venues such as the Salle Gaveau and Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Sevak played at the grand opening of Queen Elizabeth Hall in Antwerpen in 2017. He appears as a soloist with many orchestras including Sinfonia Varsovia, National Orchestra of Belgium, Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Indian Symphony Orchestra, La Chapelle Sauvage, and has collaborated with great conductors such as Hanns Graf, Hugh Wolf, Andrei Boreyko. The most recent world premiere of “DNA 15a15” by A. Irandian at Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels was described as the “best concert of the season” by Belgian TV critics. Sevak has participated at notable international festivals where he performed in chamber ensembles with Augustin Dumay, Philippe Graffin, Pascal Devoyon, Pavel Gililov, Maxime Vengerov, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer. He also serves as a regular jury member of Ysaye, Triomphe de l’Art and AGBU music competitions.
In 2016, the “Rhythm & Intervals” documentary by Gomes Schahbazyan about the life of Sevak Avanesyan in Berlin during the period of his studies was premiered on ARTR TV.
Sevak plays on “The King” Mateo Gofriller cello from 1689, which is the very first Gofriller cello known, kindly given to him by Mischa Maisky. This is Sevak’s first season with iPalpiti.