Slava Grigoryan
Slava Grigoryan is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist. He frequently collaborates and performs with his younger brother, fellow guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, performing as the Grigoryan Brothers.
Early life and career
Slava Grigoryan was born in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to violinists Eduard and Irina Grigoryan. The Armenian family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 4 years old. Eduard Grigoryan gave his sons Slava and Leonard early guitar lessons. At the age of 12, Slava Grigoryan played the instrument professionally. He pursued classical music and studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. In 1993, he won the Tokyo International Classical Guitar Competition. Grigoryan signed with Sony Music Entertainment in 1995 for whom he released four solo albums.He changed labels to ABC Classics in 2001 and subsequently released another solo album and an album recorded with his younger brother, Leonard. Frequent collaborators, the pair perform as Grigoryan Brothers and have released five albums, all of which have been nominated for ARIA Awards. In 2014 Grigoryan Brothers released This Time which has been well reviewed. Some of their previous releases include The Seasons and Distance.
Grigoryan also joined with fellow Australian musicians Anthony Field, Karin Schaupp and Gareth Koch to release albums under the group name Saffire. Field was later replaced by Leonard.
He has been artistic director of the Adelaide Guitar Festival since 2010.
Personal life
Grigoryan has two children Isabella and Paolo from his first marriage. He married cellist Sharon Draper in December 2016 and their son Sebastian was born in July 2018.Discography
Awards and recognition
In addition to his achievement in the Tokyo International Classical Guitar Competition, he has won a number of awards including Young Australian of the Year for the Arts in 1998, the Mo award for Instrumentalist of the Year in 2001.In 2000 he appeared as a soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and was part of the 2000 Sydney Olympics Arts Festival.