Gohar Vardanyan: “Armenian Guitarist”

Gohar Vardanyan – Sonata Op. 61 – Allegro (mov.1)

By Flip Peters:

If you’ve never heard Gohar Vardanyan check her out.

With a new CD and Mel Bay book out, she’s getting a lot of attention in the classical guitar world.

She also has a series of videos called Lessonettes, sponsored by Strings by Mail, that have lots of helpful technical and practice tips.

Here’s her bio:

“Armenian guitarist Gohar Vardanyan has performed throughout the United States for numerous guitar societies, universities, and arts organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Grand Canyon, Sierra Nevada, South Bay, Great Lakes and New England Guitar Societies. She has appeared on National Public Radio in the United Stated on the program “From the Top” and Radio Nacional in Argentina. Ms. Vardanyan has performed with the Juilliard Opera Center and as a soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Panama National Symphony Orchestra. She has also been a guest artist at the “Encuentro Internacional de Guitarra” in Panama and the Hamilton International Guitar Festival in Canada. Guitar International Magazine has described her as “the complete package,” “with a musicality and emotional quality . . . that one would expect from someone much older than the young wunderkind. Not only is she able to draw you into her performances with engaging musical interpretations, but she has the technical facility that is required of any concert level guitarist.” Her playing has been described as “passionate,” “evocative,” and “virtuosic.” 

In addition to her performing career, Ms. Vardanyan is an avid teacher. She has taught in master classes for various universities, guitar societies, and festivals in the United States as well as abroad. While still at Juilliard, she was a recipient of two teaching fellowships. She has taught music classes through the Morse Fellowship and group guitar classes through the Instrumental Music Program in New York City’s public schools. She was also a recipient of the McCabe Guitar Fellowship for interactive performances for NYC’s public school students. “ see more here