Today we’d like to introduce you to Tatev Muradyan.
Hi Tatev, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Tatev Muradyan is a professional violinist with extensive experience performing in orchestras and ensembles worldwide. She was born in Nor Artagers, Armenia, but her family emigrated to Russia when she was a child. Tatev started playing the violin in 2003, and it became her passion and profession.
Her education includes studying at the Kirishi School of Arts (2003–2014, class of Olga Smirnova), the Saint Petersburg Musical College named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (2014–2018, class of Liana Melik-Muradyan), and the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (2019–2024, class of Ilya Ioff).
Tatev’s career features performances with prestigious ensembles, including the Mariinsky Theatre (2021–2023), the Britten-Shostakovich Orchestra (2019), the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Mikhailovsky Theatre, the Saint Petersburg Youth Symphony Orchestra, and many others.
Tatev has worked with renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Jan Latham Koenig, Alexander Vedernikov, Christian Knapp, Gurgen Petrosyan, Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcovici, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Liebreich Alexander, Yaroslav Zaboyarkin, Alexander Rahbari, Mikhail Sinkevich, Migran Agadzhanyan, Alexander Polyanichko, Boris Gruzin, Gavriel Heine, Justus Frantz and others.
In 2019, she took part in the European tour of the American rock band Foreigner, collaborating with cellist Dave Eggar.
In December 2024, she performed as the concertmaster of the Intermezzi Ensemble in Chicago.
Beyond performing, Tatev has strong skills in improvisation, arranging, and playing the piano. She is fluent in Russian, English, and Armenian. One of her main passions outside of music is professional photography (instagram.com/tmuradians_photo), painting, knitting and cooking. When she was in school, besides music she also played for the school’s basketball, volleyball and football teams.
She currently resides in the United States, where she continues to develop her career.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There is no such thing as a smooth road in a professional career.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At the beginning of 2021, I auditioned for a position at the Mariinsky Theatre—a place that had been my ultimate goal and professional benchmark. At the time, I was in a state of apathy and detachment from reality, not even expecting to be accepted, I just did my best. After the audition, no one reached out, and no results were announced.
Meanwhile, I was actively searching for job opportunities because, after the covid lockdowns of 2020, sitting at home without concerts had become unbearable.
One evening, I made the difficult decision to quit playing the violin. There were a lot of tears. That same day, my younger sister called me and sang a little song:
“If we have been friends with music since childhood, if we love it, life will be simply wonderful. Music gives us its magic…”
That song broke my heart, but that night, I started learning web design.
The very next morning, I got a call from a store “Kid’s world” offering me a job. I asked them to call back later because I wasn’t feeling well. Later that day, after a visit from paramedics, I received another call—again from an unknown number. I didn’t want to pick up, but I did.
“Hello, this is the Mariinsky Theatre.”
From that moment on, I truly believed that “you can’t escape fate.”
When I first joined the theatre, my main goal was to work hard, learn from my colleagues, refine my skills, and grow both professionally and personally. But, unfortunately, life had its own plans, and I was faced with the hardest choice of all—family or the dream I had been striving for so long.
We left Russia after the war began.
I will always cherish the years I spent at the theatre (though you can count them on the fingers of one hand, they were still meaningful!). I am endlessly grateful for the invaluable experience, the knowledge I gained, and the deep love for the art that will stay with me forever.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Life without risk is dull and incomplete.
One day, I saw an audition announcement at the conservatory for the Britten-Shostakovich Orchestra’s tour in England—just two days before the competition. I was completely unprepared, but traveling to England had been a lifelong dream of mine, so I submitted my application.
I prepared as best as I could, played the audition (and as you know, for musicians, the fear of embarrassing yourself on stage is huge), and I made it.
This is just one of many similar stories I have. But every time I took a risk, I got what I wanted.
Many professions—firefighters, police officers, tightrope walkers in the circus—risk their lives every day. So what are we afraid of? Take the risk!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tateviolin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tateviolin and https://Instagram.com/ekernkrekern
Image Credits
Andrew Morstein (Intermezzi orchestra pthoto)
