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Michael Krikorian bio:
Praised for his “intensity and precision” (Hye Sharzhoom) and hailed as a “star pianist” (Donald Munro, The Munro Review), Dr. Michael Krikorian is a Fresno-born pianist, composer, music educator, and scholar. He has won top prizes in numerous competitions and given acclaimed performances across the United States as well as Italy, France, Germany, South Korea, and China. Some recent performance highlights include recitals at the Conservatoire de Lyon in France, and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in China. Received by a “wildly appreciative audience” (Donald Munro, The Munro Review), his concert in the Philip Lorenz International Keyboard Concerts series was named one of the top 20 cultural events of 2019 in the Central San Joaquin Valley by The Munro Review. In 2018, he was a top prizewinner in the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, including the prize for “best performance of an opera transcription or paraphrase”. He earned his bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fresno as a student of Andreas Werz, his Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music as a student of Arkady Aronov, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California as a student of Antoinette Perry. Dr. Krikorian now serves as Assistant Professor of Piano and Music Technology at California State University, Fresno.
He has served as a faculty member at the Concordia Summer Chamber Music Camp at Concordia University in Irvine, CA, and at the Asia International Piano Academy and Festival (AIPAF) in South Korea. In high demand as an adjudicator for evaluations and competitions, Dr. Krikorian has served as a judge for the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC), the University of Alabama Huntsville Piano Competition, the Image International Music Festival Competition, the Artciál International Piano Competition, and the Asia International Piano Academy and Festival Competition in South Korea.
A passionate teacher, pedagogue, and leader, Dr. Krikorian currently serves as President-Elect for CAPMT and will begin his term as President in 2025. He is also the co-founder of the SoCal International Piano Competition, which has drawn participants from across four continents. A charismatic speaker and scholar, he has been invited to present at the MTNA National Conference, the CAPMT State Conference, the MTNA Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium, and the 33rd Piano Symposium of the 2023 Ewon Music Festival in South Korea. He is proud to be an Academic Ambassador for the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM).
In addition to performing and teaching, Dr. Krikorian composes music for the concert stage and visual media. His original score for The Fidelio Incident (Act 3 Games), a video game based on Beethoven’s opera, Fidelio, has been praised as “brilliant” (Evan Dickens, Adventure Gamers), “powerful” (James Paley, COGconnected), and a soundtrack that “effectively conveys the mood” (Joe Juba, Gameinformer). His score for the short film Motel Room (Sethlan Productions, 2023) was nominated for Best Original Score at the Milan Shorts Film Festival and has screened at film festivals around the world, including a recent screening at the Steven J. Ross Theater at the Warner Bros. lot for the 2024 Cine Gear Expo. In 2024, he organized an intensive 2.5-week course as a Course Coordinator for CSU Summer Arts called Scoring for Video Games, which included guest artists Christopher Larkin (Hollow Knight), Garry Schyman (Bioshock series), Jason Hayes (World of Warcraft), Edouard Brenneisen (New World), and Peter Scaturro (Music Director at Sony Interactive Entertainment).
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