Avo Kuyumjian (Kouyoumdjian)

Born in Beirut, Lebanon to a family of Armenian descent, Professor Avo Kuyumjian began his studies when he was 12 years old at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.   He was the youngest student at the time majoring in piano performance.  At the University he studied with Professor Dieter Weber, Noel Flores, Alexander Jenner and Georg Ebert.  He continued his postgraduate work with Djanko Iliev, Stanislaw Neuhaus and Alica Kezeradze.

Professor Kuyumjian's career as an artist performer, professor, director, and administrator is marked by the many accomplishments he has achieved in the field of music since he won the first price at the Sixth International Beethoven Competition in Vienna in 1981.   Since then he has performed in well renowned concert halls in Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan.   He has been a soloist with well renowned orchestras around the world and taken part in many different festivals.  He is a sought out juror in major international competitions in addition to conducting master classes in many universities in Europe and Japan.   His recordings with many great artists and especially with his long time duo partner Takumi Kubota, well demonstrate his artistry as a pianist and a chamber musician.

In 1997, he was appointed Professor of Piano and Chamber Music in the Keyboard Department at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna where he began his pedagogical career as an assistant professor in 1987.  He is the initiator and founder of the International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in the same University and in 2002 he became the cofounder/ director of the Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Institute of the University.  Since the summer of 2004, he has been the Artistic Director at the "piano a St. Ursanne" festival in Switzerland.

In October 2010, he was appointed Dean for the Department of Performance and Instrumental Studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

In October 2016, he was appointed professor for piano at the “ Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth” in Belgium.