Hrant Parsamian, Cellist

Hrant Parsamian's interests range from the solo cello repertoire to chamber music and orchestral playing. He has recently been a soloist with the Houston Symphony and Montgomery Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Parsamian has been a prize winner in international competitions including Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, Olga Koussevitzky Competition, Holland American Music Society Competition, and the Hudson Valley Competition. He is also a past Cello Fellow of the Montgomery Symphony, and has been an active ClefWorks musician since the organization’s inception.

Hrant is also an extensive collaborative artist, and has appeared frequently in venues such as Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Music Gettysburg, Banff Center for the Arts, and the Orford concert series. Recently he has collaborated with artists such as Hans Graf, Carlos Prieto, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zakhar Bron, Natalya Shakhovskaya, Franz Helmerson, Richard Watkins, and Hansjorg Schellenberger. Together with violinist Benjamin Sung and pianist Jihye Chang, Hrant is a founding member of the Arsenal Trio, with recent performances at the University of Louisville New Music Festival and the Gregory Singer Concert Series in New York.

Born in Bulgaria, Hrant Parsamian began his cellos studies early under the guidance of his mother, giving his first recital at the age of six. Two years later he gave his debut as a soloist performing the cello concerto of C.P.E. Bach. Hrant Parsamian holds bachelor degrees from the Hochschule fur Music in Vienna and The Juilliard School, and received his Masters of Music from Yale University where he studied with world renowned cellist Aldo Parisot.