Armen Ksajikian – 10 Hour Bach Marathon at Union Station

Armen Ksajikian will be part of Kaleidoscope’s program from 1:00pm-1:50pm in the Waiting Hall.

Widely hailed as one of the GREATEST cellist in North-Central Eagle Rock! And rapidly gaining a high reputation on BOTH sides of the Atlantic!.(Boulevard) Armen Ksajikian is NOT exactly your  “garden variety” cellist.
He started his professional career at age 12 with the Abkhasian State Philharmonic in his native former Soviet Union. Since 1976 Armen’s been very active in the LA’s musical life, working with people like: Jascha Heifetz, Mstislav Rostropovich, Van Cliburn, Luciano Pavarotti, Miklos Rozsa, John Cage, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Newman, Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Gustavo Dudamel, James Cameron, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Chick Corea etc…….Groups like: Eagles, Scorpions, Incubus, Earth Wind & Fire, System Of Down, Academy Awards, Dancing with the Stars & Duke Ellington Orchestras.
Armen’s appeared as a soloist with the Nacional Orchestre du Brazil, Pacific Symphony, Hollywood Bowl & Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, where he holds the position of the Associate Principal since 2000.
Arguably Armen is the only cellist to have subbed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in FIVE different decades!.
AK’s a member of several ensembles such as:. The Catgut trio, Rio Trio, California String Quartet & The ” Award Winning” Armadillo String Quartet, (the ONLY group to have performed COMPLETE string quartets of Joseph Haydn in a 34-And-Half-Hour  marathon!!!)
In 1999 Ksajikian made his Carnegie Hall debut premiering a quartet by PDQ Bach.
In 1993 Ksajikian made his “Limousine driving ” debut in James Cameron’s action-thriller ” True Lies ” with Arnold Schwarzenegger & Jamie Lee Curtis! And being a busy recording musician, with over 1100 movies to his credit Armen got to play his own ” Death Scene “!
Performances in “less conventional” venues include:..16-day whitewater tours down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon!… “Concerts for grizzlies” inside a clarifier tank of an old pulp mill in Sitka!..Copacabana Beach in Rio!…Neverland Ranch!..& particularly proud to have soloed with the Hiland Mountain Women’s Prison Orchestra in Alaska!!
Some of the festivals include:
Cabrillo, Colorado, Banff, Sitka Summer, Oregon Bach, High Desert. , Park City, Siletz Bay & Venice Film Festivals. As well as Rio International Cello Encounter & Jasper Festival of Music & Wine.