Karine Gilanyan is a pianist known both as a soloist and through her chamber music projects. She is recognized not only for her wide-ranging repertoire and openness to diverse musical styles but also for her deep passion and expertise in contemporary compositions, many of which she has premiered.
Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Karine comes from a family of musicians. She began her studies at the age of five at the Tchaikovsky School of Music for Gifted Children. She continued her education at the State Conservatory of Yerevan under Prof. Igor Yavryan, where she graduated with honors. She was selected for the concert exam and completed her studies as a soloist in 2005.
In 2004, Karine was awarded a DAAD scholarship, which allowed her to continue her studies at the Lübeck Academy of Music, where she studied with Prof. James Tocco and Prof. Jacob Leuschner.
She also participated in numerous masterclasses, including those by Jeremy Menuhin, Prof. Georg Sava, Prof. Gustav Rivinius, and Prof. Wolfram Rieger for Lied accompaniment.
Karine has received multiple awards at both national and international competitions, such as the „Amadeus – Competition for Young Talents“ in Armenia and the „Chopin Roma“ competition in Italy. She has performed at various prestigious festivals, including the Sommercampus Rostock (Germany), the Pablo Casals Festival (France), the Perugia Music Festival (Italy), the Modern Music Festival (Armenia), „Randspiele,“ „Altmark Festival,“ „Klangwerkstatt,“ and „Unerhörte Musik.“ Her international concert engagements have taken her to countries including Hungary, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Sweden.
As a soloist, she has performed with the Armenian Philharmonic, Solisti di Perugia, and the Eroica Berlin Chamber Orchestra (with a broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur). Karine has a close artistic partnership with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, with which she has premiered several new works. She has worked with esteemed conductors such as Simon Halsey, Klaus Mäkelä, Marc Niemann, Jakob Lehmann, and others.
In 2013 and 2014, she served as the Artistic Director of the Komitas Festival in Prötzel (Germany) and continues to pursue personal projects, including „Komitas 140“ at Humboldt University in 2010, „100 Years of the Armenian Genocide“ in 2015, and „The Unheard Genius“ at the Berlin Concert Hall in 2022.
Karine has been honored with the Komitas Medal by the Republic of Armenia for her contributions to promoting Armenian classical music internationally.
Based in Berlin, Karine regularly performs at renowned venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonie, Deutsche Oper Berlin. and other. She is a faculty member at the HfM Hanns Eisler and the International Music Academy Berlin. At the Music Academy Rheinsberg, she co-leads chamber music workshops with Prof. Michael Erxleben and Prof. Fritjof Grabner.