David Alaverdian is a Soviet-born pianist. He began studying piano from the age of five under his father's supervision. In 1989, Mr. Alaverdian was accepted into V. A. Uspensky Music School for Gifted Children in Tashkent. His principal teacher there was Guzal Ardashirova. He had completed 5 years of study in Uspensky school, before his family moved to the United States in 1994. In United States, having no musical connections, David Alaverdian decides to perform classical music in the New York City subway on an electronic keyboard. These performances attracted the attention of The New York Times, where Alaverdian's musical activities were described in a major article in December 1995 (David's former name then was David Allakhverdov). David's achievements were also noted in detail in a German article "Die Woche" in 1996. In 1997, David is accepted to study at The Juilliard School, with professor Seymour Lipkin. In 1998, he won a Contemporary Music Prize at Juilliard, playing the music of Shostakovich. In 2000, David Alaverdian won the first prize at Juilliard Concerto Competition, playing Chopin's first piano concerto with Juilliard orchestra. This performance drew the attention of The New York Times again, which reviewed the event in detail. Its headline read: “Subway Soloist Takes The Stage At Juilliard.” In 2001, he performed the Rachmaninov's second piano concerto with Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. In 2002, he became a semi-finalist at Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition. He was also a semi-finalist of Young Concert Artist International Auditions in 2006. David Alaverdian has performed in great venues of United States, including Steinway Hall, Trinity Church, Alice Tully Hall, The Juilliard Theater, Merkin Hall, and Tilles Center. David Alaverdian is a strong advocate of chamber music, and has appeared on this behalf in several festivals, including Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival (2004, 2006), Banff Festival (2005), and Mozarteum Sommerakademie (2005). He has taken lessons and masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Jacob Lateiner, Catherine Vickers, Joel Sachs, Seymour Lipkin, Mikhail Voskresensky, Lewis Kaplan, David Dubal, Richard Raymond, and Ronald Copes. David Alaverdian graduated from The Juilliard School in 2005 with a Bachelor's degree, and currently works on his Master's degree at Manhattan School of Music with a renowned artist, Andre-Michel Schub. In June of 2007, David's performance of Chopin's Etude No. 4 was broadcast on KZSU 90.1FM (Stanford,CA global radio). David is also highly interested in composition, and enjoys writing romantic songs for voice based on Russian poetry, writes electronic Russian and other pop songs, and chamber music as well. David Alaverdian is also studying computer science in Hunter College, New York. Contact David Alaverdian by: Email: liszt6@hotmail.com Cell#: 917.655.4708 Repertoire list and more music on David's Website: http://liszt6.multiply.com The New York Times articles: http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=per&v1=ALLAKHVERDOV%2C%20DAVID&sort=newest