About
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian (born April 22, 1995 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian violinist of Armenian origin.
Biography
Born into a family of musicians, Tjeknavorian began to play the violin at the age of 5. Aged 7, he played his first public concert. Two years later, a recital resulted in his being awarded a scholarship from the Vladimir Spivakov-Foundation.[citation needed] This scholarship led to concert appearances at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
Tjeknavorian has studied with Petros Haykazyan, Artashes Mkrtchyan, and Arkady Winokurow. In February 2011, he became a pupil of Gerhard Schulz, former member of the Alban Berg Quartet, at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In June 2014, Tjeknavorian graduated from the Sacred Heart Gymnasium in Vienna.
Awards and competitions
Tjeknavorian has won several prizes, including the International Johannes Brahms Competition. In 2012, he represented Austria at the Eurovision Young Musicians contest. In the 2012/13 season, he won the Musica Juventutis competition at the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 2013, he won first prize in the Stefanie Hohl Violin Competition and first prize in the Fifth Szymon Goldberg Award competition.
In September 2014, Tjeknavorian was the first Austrian in the history of the Fritz Kreisler Competition to make it to the final round, where he won third place. In November 2014, he received the Casinos Austria Rising Star Award. In December 2015, he placed second in the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition.