bamberger symphoniker

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© Marian Lenhard

Geworg Budagjan

Deputy section leader, 2nd Violins

I come from a musical family in Armenia. As a schoolboy, I often attended concerts of the Armenian Symphony Orchestra, whose First Concertmaster was my uncle. He was a great example to me and encouraged me to emigrate to Germany aged just 17, to study there. My decision to join an orchestra was motivated, among other things, by a wish to see the audience’s reaction, and to be part of a large family.

Geworg Budagjan comes from Yerevan (Armenia) and after graduating early from secondary school began his studies under Prof. Willi Mokazjan at the local Conservatory in 1992. From 1994 he studied with Prof. Maria Egelhof, initially in Mainz and from 1996 at the Lübeck Academy of Music. He won prizes at the Paderborn Young Ensembles Chamber Music Competition and International Yfrah Neaman Competition, among others. He attended many advanced classes, for instance with Prof. Yfrah Neaman, Prof. Ruggiero Ricci and Prof. Walter Levin.

1999 brought opportunities to appear as a member of the Barrault Quartet at the Brahms Festival and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. That same summer, he was invited to perform at the Aspen Music Festival’s Center for Advanced Quartet Studies in Colorado (USA), where he was coached by members of the Takács, Cleveland, Juilliard and Emerson String Quartets. He gained orchestral experience in the Mainz Chamber Orchestra and NDR Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. He has been deputy section leader in the Bamberg Symphony second violins since 2002.