Sergei Babayan

Sergei Babayan (Armenian: Սերգեյ Բաբայան; born 1 January 1961) is an Armenian-American pianist. Described by Le Devoir as a "genius", Babayan won many international competitions, including the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in 1989 and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 1991. He appears as soloist with leading orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester, London Symphony Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, under such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Tugan Sokhiev, Neeme Järvi, Rafael Payare, and David Robertson. He served as artist-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1992 to 2024 and currently teaches at both The Juilliard School and Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts.