Karine Gilanyan was born in a family of musicians in Yerevan, Armenia. She studied at the music school for gifted students named after Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Yerevan, graduating from the school with the highest distinction. Afterwards she entered the Yerevan State Conservatory and studied in the class of Professor Igor Yavryan. Karine Gilanyan earned her master’s degree with honors and continued her postgraduate studies as a piano soloist, obtaining her master of arts diploma in 2005.
In 2004, the young pianist pursued further studies at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany in the class of Professor James Tocco and Professor Jacob Leuschner. She was awarded with the competitive DAAD (German Academic Exchange Programme) scholarship to complete her degree in Lübeck.
In the course of her studies Karine participated in several master classes conducted by prominent professors such as Georg Sava, Volker Banfield, Jeremy Menuhin, Ilana Vered, Eitan Globerson, Michael Lewin. Karine Gilanyan took part in a number of Chamber Music master classes led by Professor Maria Egelhof, Professor Rainer Moog, Marie Hallyng, Professor Gustav Rivinius, as well as, accompaniment master seminars conducted by Professors Wolfram Rieger and Inge-Susanne Röhmhild.
In 1995 Karine obtained a Diploma at the “Amadeus” National Competition for Young Talents.
In 2010 she was awarded with a Diploma at the “Chopin Roma” International Competition in Rome, Italy.
Along the years, she has performed in a number of festivals, including, but not limited to: “Sommercampus Rostock” (Germany), “Pablo Casals Festival” (Prades, France), “Music Fest Perugia” (Italy), “Modern Music Festival” (Yerevan, Armenia), “Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg”, “Märkische Musiktage”, “Altmark Festspiele”, “Randspiele” and others.
Throughout her career Karine Gilanyan has mastered a broad spectrum of music genres, performing masterpieces of classical music and world debuts in contemporary music. In Armenia Karine premiered several works of Alfred Schnittke, Görgy Ligeti, Ralf Hoyer, Mauricio Kagel, etc. She appeared as a soloist and chamber music pianist in numerous events in Armenia, Hungary, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. As a chamber musician she performed in prestigious concert venues, such as Berliner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Münchner Residenz. She also played as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra “Solisti di Perugia”, Chamber Orchestra “Eroica Berlin” and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia, as well as several times as the member of Kammerakademie Potsdam and worked under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä, Marc Niemann, Simon Halsey, Jakob Lehmann and other prominent musicians.
Currently Karine Gilanyan is based in Berlin where she is building her creative and dynamic artistic life by performing on the vibrant podiums of the German capital city.
Karine is also currently a docent at the Academy of Music “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin and at the International Music Academy for Highly Gifted in Germany (Internationale Musikakademie zur Förderung Hochbegabte in Deutschland). She conducts chamber music workshops together with Michael Erxleben (Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin) and Professor Frithof Grabner (Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig).
Karine Gilanyan is the proud wearer of the “Komitas” Medal awarded to her in 2012 by the Armenian Government for her significant contribution and promotion of the Armenian music in the Armenian Diaspora and in the world.