Koryun Asatryan, born in Armenia in 1985, started his saxophone lessons at the music school in Yerevan under Prof. Alexander Manukyan in 1993. From October 2000 he studied in Dortmund under Prof. Daniel Gauthier, who was his most important musical mentor. He continued with Gauthier from October 2003 onwards at the Music Academy in Cologne and finished the studies in 2009 with Konzertexamen. Koryun Asatryan also took masterclasses with the most influential saxophonists, such as Jean-Marie Londeix.
Since 1999 Koryun Asatryan has been winning various competitions in Moscow, Yerevan, Kiev, Hamburg, Oldenburg, Berlin and Bayreuth. It is of a particular note his enormous success in May 2004 at the “12th Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians”, Lucerne, where he won 2nd prize representing Germany. At the beginning of October 2006 he received the 1st prize and the prize for the best performance of a contemporary composition at the first international “Aeolus wind instrumentalist competition“ in Düsseldorf. On May 2008 he won the “Hülsta-Woodwind Competition” in Münster and on March 2012 the famous “German Music Competition” in Bonn.
Tours throughout the USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Russia, Korea and numerous concerts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Japan, Armenia, etc. with the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, WDR Rundfunk Orchestra Cologne, SWR-Rundfunkorchester Stuttgart, Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Festival Strings Lucerne, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn were all a great success. He has collaborated with conductors such as Michael Sanderling, Christoph Poppen, Christian Arming, Ruben Gazarian. The success of his career has been borne out by his appearance at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival, Musical Olympus“ (St. Petersburg), Colmar-Music Festival (France), Rheingau Music Festival, Lucerne Festival, Musikfest Bremen etc. in concert halls such as Gewandhaus Leipzig, KKL Lucerne, Dortmund Concert Hall, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, Gasteig und Herkulessaal Munich, Sala Verdi Milano, Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Liederhalle Stuttgart. One of the highlights of his artistic career was the 45-minute documentary by the TV channel 3sat.
As a result of his outstanding skills, he got a special prize from the “Deutschen Stiftung Musikleben“, scholarships from the “Konrad Adenauer Foundation“, “Vladimir Spivakov Foundation“, “Werner Richard – Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation“ and the Music-Prize 2008 of the Association of German Concert Managements.
2005-2013 Koryun Asatryan was a member of the “Alliage Quintet“, which won the “Echo-prize 2005”. The last three CDs with this Ensemble were recorded for the Sony Classical.
2005 he founded the “Duo Fortezza” with the accordionist Enrique Ugarte. Since then, the ensemble has given numerous performances in Europe.
He has also made several solo and chamber music recordings in various musical genres, both on CDs and for the radio.
Since 2011 Koryun Asatryan is teaching at the Music Academy of Munich and giving masterclasses in different international academies.
Prizes
September 1999, Moscow
1st Prize – „1st international Glazunov Saxophone Competition“
April 2000, Yerevan
1st Prize – „National Saxophone Competition“
September 2000, Kiev
1st Prize – International Saxophone Competition „SELMER-Paris in Ukraine“
June 2001, Hamburg
1st Prize – Federal Competition „Jugend musiziert“
June 2001, Oldenburg
1st Prize – 1st international Youth-Competition „Oldenburger Promenade“
October 2003, Bayreuth
2nd Prize – 16th intern.Music competition „Pacem in Terris“
November 2003, Berlin
1st Prize – International saxophone competition
April 2004, Berlin
1st Prize – „Gustav Bumcke“ international Saxophone competition
May 2004, Lucerne, Switzerland
2nd Prize – 12th EUROVISION Competition for Young Musicians, Lucerne
October 2006, Düsseldorf
Prize and Prize for the best interpretation of the modern piece – 1st international „Aeolus wind competition“
April 2004, Münster
1st Prize – International “Hulsta-Woodwinds”
September 2008, Nuremberg
Musikpreis 2008 des Verbands der deutschen Konzertdirektionen
March 2012, Bonn
Deutscher Musikwettbewerb
Scholarships
- Scholarship by foundation „New Names“, Yerevan
- Scholarship by foundation „New Names“, Moscow
- Scholarship by international „Vladimir Spivakov Foundation”
- Special prize by „Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben“
- Concert scholarship by „Werner Richard – Dr. Carl Dörken Stiftung“
- CD Sponsorship by „Lutz – E. Adolf Stiftung für Hochbegabte“
- Concert scholarship by „Sieghardt Rometsch Foundation“
- Scholarship by „Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung“