Sarkis Zakarian

Sarkis Zakarian was born in 1978 in Bulgaria to Armenian parents. He started playing the piano at the age of 4 and in 1988 was accepted as a pupil at the Dobri Hristov Music School in Varna. In 1993 he took part in an international masterclass given by Professor Oxana Yablonskaya from the USA. In September of that year Zakarian was awarded a scholarship to go to the Purcell School of Music in London, where he studied with Patsy Toh. In September 1997 he won a scholarship, which enabled him to continue his studies with Patsy Toh at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Sarkis has performed in Bulgaria, England and Malta. He was a prize winner at the 1994 Redditch Music Society Piano Competition. Sarkis gave recitals at the Purcell Room (Royal Festival Hall) in 1995 and 1996 when he also performed at the prestigious Wigmore Hall in London. During the same year he played the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra and in March 1997 Sarkis performed the Brahms Piano Concerto in 'D' Minor.
One of the most exciting pianists of the younger generation, he has been described as possessing a staggering technique combined with a sensitivity and authority rare among artists today.