Levon Malkhasyan

One of Armenia’s best bands of the period of jazz fever in the beginning of the 60’s was the quartet formed at the Institute of Languages after Brusov and led by Levon Malkhasyan. The band performed during youth parties in Yerevan, toured around the Soviet Union and participated in All-Union jazz festivals. In Voronezh the band won the Grand Prix, while Levon Malkhasyan was named the best pianist of the festival. His performance style has always been expressive and emotional, like the creative work of his first and only teacher and idol, Canadian virtuoso Oscar Peterson. From his performance the listener easily feels his nature – broad, open, vivid and a bit reckless. For all his life he has played as a soloist with various bands: the State Jazz Orchestra and many bands founded by himself. He often performed in Russia, the USA, Germany, France, the countries of Eastern Europe and even South-Eastern Asia. As of today, he performs both with young musicians and as a member of the veterans’ band “The 70’s Orchestra”. He is a frequent guest of TV and radio programs, and even appears in video clips. His main accomplishment has always been organizational and promotional activities. As a youth, he organized evenings of jazz, jazz clubs and jazz festivals, all of which was very hard in the conditions of Soviet censorship.