Violinist Sergey Khachatryan has been awarded this year's Credit Suisse Young Artist Award. At CHF 75,000, the prize is one of the most valuable in the industry and includes a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival this summer.
Born in Armenia, Sergey Khachatryan won the Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki in 2000 and first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2005. In June 2013, his latest CD with the violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms was released on the Naïve label.
The Credit Suisse Young Artist Award is an initiative of the Lucerne Festival, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde Wien and the Credit Suisse Foundation. It provides young musicians with funding and performance opportunities to develop their careers.
Previous prizewinners are Quirine Viersen (cello/2000), Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin/2002), Sol Gabetta (cello/2004), Martin Helmchen (piano/2006), Antoine Tamestit (viola/2008), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello/2010) and Vilde Frang (violin/2012).
