Faces of the 20th Century
Navarra Symphony Orchestra

 Friday / February 17 / 7:30 p.m.
 60 min
 16 and 18

A concert featuring pieces by three key composers of the 20th century, with Sofya Melikyan as piano soloist and the OSN conducted by Dmitri Loos.

Trisagion for string orchestra was composed by Arvo Pärt and is inspired by the opening prayer of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, which means Three Times Holy in Greek. Although it is an instrumental piece, the parameters of this text in Church Slavonic (number of syllables per word, accents, etc.) are the determining factor in the composition.

Tsfasman's Jazz Suite for piano and orchestra is a work that conveys pure joy, barely touched by a few more nostalgic notes.

Alfred Schnittke's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is one of the dramas of the 20th century told by a composer whose writing is among the most personal and recognizable of the last century.

ARTISTIC CREDITS

Navarra Symphony Orchestra

Sofya Melikyan, piano

Dmitri Loos, management

Violin I
Yorrick Troman
Anna Siwek
Daniel Menéndez
Catalina García-Mina
Aratz Uria
David Pérez

Violin II
Anna Radomska
Maite Ciriaco
Grazyna Romanczuk
Angelo Vieni
David Cabezón
Fermín Ansó

Viola
Carolina Uriz
Javier Gomez
Robert Pajewski
José Ramón Rodríguez

Cello
David Johnstone
Tomasz Przylecki
Dorota Pukownik
Carlos Frutuoso
Double bass
Piotr Piotrowski
Gian Luca MangiarotI
Percussion
Santi Pizana
Javier Pelegrín

Sofya Melikyan

“Armenian pianist Sofya Melikyan proves herself to be a technically accomplished performer, allowing her great sensitivity to guide her interpretations.” Remy Franck, 4* Pizzicato.

Born in Yerevan, she began her training there at the Tchaikovsky Music School with Anahit Shajbazyan. She continued her studies at the RCSM in Madrid with Joaquín Soriano, winning the Extraordinary End of Degree Honor Award. She later perfected her performance skills with Galina Eguiazarova in Madrid, Ramzi Yassa, and Brigitte Engerer in Paris. She completed postgraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York under the tutelage of Solomon Mikowsky. She currently resides in the south of France.

Sofya Melikyan has performed in prestigious venues across Europe, Asia, the United States, Australia, and Canada, with recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the American Liszt Society, and the Kennedy Center, among others, and concerts with the Armenian National Symphony Orchestra, the European Philharmonic Orchestra, the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, to name a few.

A passionate chamber musician, she has collaborated with Amaury Coeytaux, Gary Hoffman, Torleif Thedéen, Tanja Becker-Bender, Silvia Simionescu, Lise Berthaud, Kim Kashkashian, Karen Ouzounian, and Philippe Graffin.

In her discography, two solo CDs received high praise from the specialized press: Women, featuring works by Gubajdulina, Chitchyan, Saariaho, and Quiaro, which was a finalist for the MIN Awards, and Spanish Piano Music, dedicated to Granados and Mompou. In 2021, she recorded the first CD of The Brahms Project. Sofya is also preparing a major recording project focusing on Déodat de Séverac and Ricardo Viñes.

Dmitri Loos

He graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg with the highest academic honors in Russia and subsequently furthered his studies in Brussels, Madrid, and Budapest.

He is considered a conductor who has never subordinated or adjusted his interpretive style to passing trends or fashions. He has conducted numerous tours of Europe with orchestras such as the Moscow Philharmonic, the Bolshoi Theater Chamber Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Budapest Strings, the Solti Chamber Orchestra, and many others. His repertoire includes works by Spanish composers such as Lebrero, del Puerto, García Abril, Martín y Soler, Toldrá, Turina, and E. Halffter, among others.

Dmitri Loos holds a PhD in Music and, as such, teaches conducting courses at universities in Spain and abroad.

In 2015, Dmitri Loos gave a successful concert as part of the MUN's Cartographies of Music series, featuring works by Shostakovich, Denissov, and Stravinsky.