Sergei Babayan is an Armenian-American pianist born on January 1, 1961, in Gyumri. He began his musical studies at age six with Luiza Markaryan and Georgy Saradjev before attending the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied under Lev Naumov, Vera Gornostayeva, and Mikhail Pletnev. Babayan won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1989, the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 1991, and the Scottish International Piano Competition in 1992. His repertoire included works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as modern compositions by Arvo Pärt and Witold Lutosławski. He performed as a soloist with ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under conductors such as Valery Gergiev and Neeme Järvi. Babayan recorded for labels including Deutsche Grammophon and Pro Piano Records. In 1996, he established the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he served as Artist-in-Residence until 2024. He joined the faculty of The Juilliard School in 2013 and became a professor at Southern Methodist University in 2023.
