Ara Malikian is a Lebanese-born violinist of Armenian descent. He was educated in Germany and now based in Spain. Since 1995, Malikian has played in a duo with the pianist Serouj Kradjian, also of Armenian origin, recorded the complete cycle of Sonatas by Robert Schumann (Hänsler) with him, as well as the record “Miniatures” (Malkrafon), an anthology of music for violin and piano written by Armenian composers. He has also recorded numerous discs for record companies such as BMG, Auvidis, Trittico Classics and Elite Music, including, among many other compositions, “The Four Seasons” of Vivaldi (more than 80,000 copies sold for UNICEF). Malikian maintains a close collaboration with José Luis Montón. As well as working with the Lebanese singer Fairuz, the flamenco dancers Joaquín Cortés and Belén Maya, the Ensamble Nuevo Tango and the jazz pianist Horacio Icasto. He has also collaborated with film-music composers like Alberto Iglesias, with whom he recorded the soundtrack for Hable Con Ella, a movie by Almodóvar, or Pascal Gainge in Otro Barrio by the director Salvador García Ruiz. Ara Malikian has released albums “Manantial” and “De la felicidad” accompanied by the flamenco guitarist José Luis Montón. This last CD was nominated by the Spanish Academy of Music for the best New Music CD of the year. With Warner Bros., Malikian recorded a double CD, which contained some of the most significant works of Paganini, including his “24 Caprices for Violin Solo”, an album with some compositions by Sarasate accompanied by the Armenian pianist Serouj Kradjian, the “Six Sonatas” for violin by Ysaÿe and the “Sonatas and Partitas” by J. S. Bach. Ara Malikian was nominated twice for the best classical performance in the 2007 Music Prizes in Spain, by the Spanish Academy for his recording of the Poema Concertante by Xavier Montsalvatge, along with the Castilla y León Symphonic Orchestra; as well as for a piece with Joan Valent, Suso Sáiz and Marc Blanes. He participated as a guest artist in the film J: Beyond Flamenco, by Carlos Saura (2016).
