Ani Aznavoorian
Recently hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a “cellist who shows great sensitivity and great virtuosity at all moments,” Ms. Ani Aznavoorian is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician with some of the world’s most recognized ensembles. She has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the International Sejong Soloists, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Ms. Aznavoorian has also appeared as recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Italy, France, Finland, Yugoslavia, Japan, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, and Canada.
Ms. Aznavoorian is an avid chamber musician and teacher. She is the principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica, one of the premier chamber music series in Southern California. She has also served on the distinguished music faculty at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, and in the summers she is on the faculty of the Great Mountains Music Festival and School in South Korea.
Her numerous accolades include first prizes in the Chicago Cello Society National Competition, the Juilliard School Concerto Competition, the Julius Stulberg Competition, and the American String Teachers Association Competition. She was a top prizewinner in the 1996 International Paulo Competition, held in Helsinki, Finland. As a recipient of the 1995 Level I award in the National Foundation for the Arts Recognition and Talent Search, Ms. Aznavoorian became a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performed as soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. where she met former U.S. President, Bill Clinton. She was also recipient of the prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award for her outstanding cello playing and artistry.
She proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian in Chicago. |
Marta Aznavoorian
“A pianist of exceptionally finished technique and purity of musical impulse.” (Boston Globe) Marta Aznavoorian has performed nationally and abroad. A Chicago native, she has performed in her hometown’s most prestigious venues, and has appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Aspen Concert Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony and San Diego Symphony, working with such renowned conductors as the late Sir George Solti, Lukas Foss, Michael Tilson Thomas and Henry Mazer, to name a few. Solo recital credits include the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Sydney Opera House, Steinway Hall, Weill Hall, Caramoor Festival, Tanglewood Festival, Music in the Loft, Dame Myra Hess Series, and Green Lake music Festival.
Ms. Aznavoorian has collaborated with such artists as the Pacifica Quartet, Julian Rachlin, Robert Chen, Colin Carr, Stefan Milenkovich, and Jennifer Frautschi. She has made a recording of Sonatas for violin and piano by Stravinsky and Ravel under the ARTEC label and is currently working on her next recording with Cedille Records.
Ms. Aznavoorian received her Bachelor of Music degree and Music Performers Certificate from Indiana University, and a Masters of Music degree from New England Conservatory. Past teachers include Lev Vlassenko, Menahem Pressler, Carolyn McCracken, Patricia Zander, Evelyn Brancart, and Emilio del Rosario.
A member of the Lincoln Trio, ensemble-in-residence at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ms. Aznavoorian is also a member of the MIC Faculty. |
Suzanne Kritzberg
A Chicago native, Suzanne is the prima ballerina for the Minnesota Ballet where she has been a principle dancer and teacher since 1990. She studied at Ruth Page, in Chicago, the Houston Ballet Academy and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Before joining the Minnesota Ballet she danced in the Chicago Tribune Charities production of The Nutcracker, with the State Ballet of Missouri and the Wisconsin Ballet Theatre. For the Minnesota Ballet she has received much praise, such as for her “virtuosic talent” evident in her Cinderella, her “magnificent” solo as the Muse of Dance in Apollo, and for “breathtaking moments” in The Nutcracker Grand Pas de Deux. The Minneapolis Star Tribune praised her “strong technique” and “beginnings of a signature style.” In 1999 Suzanne was awarded a McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dancers with funds administered by the Minnesota Dance Alliance, and in 2001 she was awarded a Fellowship grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, through an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature and the McKnight Foundation. In 2007 she also received an inaugural Twenty under Forty Award from the Duluth News Tribune and in 2008 she received the Depot Foundation's Art's and Culture Artist of the Year Award.
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