Piano, Music Box
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian has performed extensively in her native Armenia and the
former Soviet Union, as well as internationally. Her solo appearances and frequent contributions
to a number of ensembles have won acclaim from the renowned authorities in the musical world,
including praise from Paul Badura Skoda, Mikhail Pletnev and Daniel Pollock.
After finishing the Tchaikovsky Music School in Yerevan under the guidance of Professor
E.Tandilian Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian graduated with honors from the graduate piano class of
Professor Lev Vlasenko and Mikhail Pletnev at the Moscow Conservatory. Among the highlights
of her performing and teaching career are the prize at the Transcaucasian Music Competition in
1981 and the professorship at the Yerevan State Conservatory, where she taught a piano class
and also the methods of piano teaching from 1988 to 2005. From 1986 to 1988 Lilit Karapetian-
Shougarian also assisted Professor Lev Vlasenko in his piano class at the Moscow Conservatory.
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian is at home both with the classical and modern repertoire. Her
spirited interpretations of Rakhmaninov, Liszt, Chopin, Debussy and Olivier Messian invariably
fascinate the public. Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian has had an impressive number of solo recitals
in Syria, Jordan, the United States, Great Britain, Italy and Argentina. In 1994 she was invited to
perform in the prestigious Grande Finale concert together with Ann Shein, a world-famous
pianist, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Her 1995 recital at the Washington Arts Club
and a series of concerts in Buenos-Aires and Cordoba in 1996 were highly praised by
international press and the local musical circles.
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian also performed with the Arlington Symphony and the Williamsburg
Symphony orchestras. Her most recent recitals with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra
featured Mozart’s Concerto # 23 (A-Major) and Saint-Saens’s concerto #2 (g-minor). In 2006-
2007 she had solo recitals in Venice, in the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome
and Teatro di Marcello of Rome (the recording of that concert can be found at the following
internet address:
www.tempietto.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=60).
Lilit Karapetian- Shougarian also performed during the internationally broadcasted 1st
anniversary of Telepace Armenia.
Mrs. Karapetian-.Shougarian has authored several articles on musicology and theory of piano
interpretation. Among them are Methodological Observations in the Process of the Advanced
Piano Teaching (2004); The Vocal Element in Franz Schubert’s Piano Sonatas (2004); The
Art of Interpretation and International Competitions. (2007)
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian is currently a resident of Wellesley, Massachusetts. In September
2009 she joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory Preparatory and Continuing
Education Departments, where she currently teaches a piano class. Mrs. Karapetian-Shougarian
also teaches piano at the Rivers School Conservatory and Sharon Music Academy.
Being the spouse of Rouben Shougarian, Armenia’s first Ambassador to Washington (1993-
1999) and Italy, Spain and Portugal (2005-2008), Lilit Karapetian- Shougarian had to travel
extensively and in addition to her professional career performed many social and diplomatic
duties.
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian continued her performing career after moving permanently to the
United States. In 2009-2011 she had solo recitals in Watertown and Washington DC. She also
played together with Dr. Magdalena Richter (violin) in Arlington, MA. The highlight of her
recent performing career were her two solo recitals at Williams Hall, NEC in January 2012 and
March 2014.
In March 2013 Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian had a master class and guest artist gala concert at
Bridgewater State University, Department of Music.
Since April 2013 she has also started collaborating and performing with Levon Chilingirian, a
world- renowned violinist from London, UK.
Lilit performed a solo recital at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall in 2016, where she
premiered V. Sargsyan’s new arrangements of Komitas songs. She is committed to promoting
contemporary music and is a frequent participant in Contemporary Musical Seminars.
…the wonderful pianist Lilit Shougarian played so well…
Paul Badura Skoda
Austrian pianist of international acclaim
Her performance is exclusively refined, full of genuine lyricism and technically polished.
Willie Sarkissian
Professor, Yerevan State Conservatory
Bright artistic sophistication, charm and professionalism.
Sergey Dorensky
Professor, Moscow Conservatory
Virtuoso interpretations, thoughtful approach…
Mikhail Pletnev
World-famous Russian pianist and conductor
The second movement’s elfin Scherzo (Saint-Saens’s Concerto #2) delivered characteristic spark
and clarity in the arpeggios and runs. The standing ovation…was well deserved.
The Washington Post