C'EBOTARYAN, Gayane

Gayane Chebotaryan was an Armenian composer, pianist, musicologist and teacher. She was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1918 and received her early musical education before continuing her studies at the Leningrad / St. Petersburg Conservatory, where she graduated in 1943 in composition and piano. Her musical work developed within the Armenian and Soviet classical traditions, with a strong connection to Armenian musical language, folk material and modal writing. From 1947 she taught at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, becoming an important pedagogue for later generations of Armenian musicians, and in 1977 she was appointed professor.

Chebotaryan’s output includes piano music, chamber music, vocal and choral works, and orchestral compositions. Among her works are Variations on a Folk Theme for piano, Sonata for piano, Armenia Poem for symphony orchestra and choir, Piano Trio, Six Preludes, Piano Concerto, Concert Etudes and A Polyphonic Album for Youth. Her compositions often combine classical forms with Armenian melodic and harmonic elements. She was also active as a musicologist and published a study on the polyphonic characteristics of Aram Khachaturian. In 1965 she was awarded the title of Honoured Art Worker of Armenia. She died in Moscow in 1998.