About
Atamian’s career evolved from a highly-excitable young artist into the maturity of a statesman of the instrument where a prodigious technical prowess was fused with rare musical acumen to deliver electrifying performances and landmark recordings.
In 1975 Atamian won 1st prize at the 50th Anniverary Naumburg Competitions at Carnegie Hall at the age of 19 – the youngest person along with William Kapell and Robert Mann, ever to win that competition. For most artists, a win at an international level competition changes their career; for Atamian it changed the music industry. The subsequent Carnegie Hall recital that followed featured a new solo piano transcription of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring by New York composer Sam Raphling. This daring new work for the piano was met with such approving critical acclaim that RCA Red Seal immediately signed Atamian to record the new transcription and a host of other works for their first digital recording. Recently re-released on Delos, noted music critic Allan Ulrich writing for the San Francisco Examiner proclaimed: “Twenty years later, these remain 31 of the most exciting minutes of piano playing ever recorded.”
A tour of the Soviet Union and series of nationally televised PBS specials followed including “An Evening with Atamian” which won the ”Best of PBS” in 1981 and “Atamian Salutes Kapell”. (Both specials are available on YouTube.) William Kapell’s venerable career and tragic death inspired Atamian throughout much of his own tumultuous career. He included Kapell’s signature concerto, the Khachaturian Piano concerto in his repertoire and recorded the work with the Seattle Symphony.
With a major competition win, a landmark recording, and a tour of the Soviet Union, Atamian quickly established himself as a force to reckon with in the piano world performing nearly 200 concerts with orchestras including performances with the Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel, the Detroit Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Phoenix Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, major orchestras in Poland, Russia, Mexico, and South Korea, and orchestra tours with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He worked with some of the leading conductors in the industry including Gerard Schwarz, Eduardo Mata, David Zinman, James DePreist, Gustav Meier, Victor Allessandro, Verner Torkanowsky, Jens Nygaard, Alan Hovanhess, Grzegorz Nowak, Enrique Batiz, Michael Morgan, and Joann Faletta.
Adding to the list of orchestral appearances, Atamian performed on many leading recital series in the world’s great music capitols, among them Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Town Hall, Carnegie Hall in New York, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Boston, Grady Gammage Auditorium in Phoenix, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Town Hall in Sidney and the Great Hall in Moscow. He has also performed at the Aspen, Marlboro, Chautauqua and Ravinia festivals.
His other recordings include the Prokofiev Third and Khachaturian Piano Concertos with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony on Delos, CDs of the Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, selective works of Chopin and four Beethoven Sonatas.
It is enjoyable when someone actually can do what I ask them to do!
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
I audition them and put them in a category of advancement.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I was a well-known concert artist for 41 years.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
$100-$200 per hour depending on the level of advancement.
How did you get started teaching?
I have taught since I was 14 years old.
What types of students have you worked with?
Very advanced to less advanced students.
What advice would you give a student looking to hire a teacher in your area of expertise?
They need to find a teacher that has original thought and something urgent to say!
What questions should students think through before talking to teachers about their needs?
Decide if they need physical or musical help.