World famous pianist returns to Seeley Lake

SEELEY LAKE - Alpine Artisans' 2 Valleys Stage is ushering in the New Year by bringing a world class opportunity to our rural communities. Straight from concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Salle Cortot (Paris) and the Glasgow Concert Hall, acclaimed pianist Tanya Gabrielian will be performing at 3 p.m. Jan. 5 on the stage of the Seeley-Swan High School Auditorium!

Gabrielian writes that she feels just as comfortable with musically uneducated audiences as with experienced concert-goers. Grounded in the strong belief that everybody can create and find self-expression through art, she has developed various projects and associations that focus on creating connections within communities. She is particularly enthusiastic about reaching out to schools, small towns and unusual locations.

Though she started piano lessons at age three, a number of other interests vied for her attention. At age sixteen she was accepted into the biomedical engineering program at Harvard University. She decided to wait a year, however, and went to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. She also decided to learn a northern Chinese style of martial arts called Zhuan Shu Kuan. During an intense training session, she slipped on a floor made slippery by her own sweat and fell forward. In that split second of falling, her body instinctively chose to protect her piano-playing hands. Head and spinal injuries necessitated two operations and a month in the hospital, but the incident also made her realize that playing the piano was more important to her than biomedical engineering.

Another revelation occurred during her convalescence. Turning to music as a consolation and a distraction, for the first time she experienced music as a spectator. Overwhelmed by the power of music to provide encouragement and hope, she has committed her life to bringing the same joy to others.

Completing her bachelor and master's degrees at the Royal Academy of Music in London, each of the six years Gabrielian received the award for the best final recital. At the completion of her studies she was awarded a DipRAM, the highest performing award of the Royal Academy of Music.

In 2009, Gabrielian moved to New York as the only candidate accepted for The Juilliard School's prestigious Artist Diploma program, an extraordinarily selective post-graduate residency program. Currently, Gabrielian is Assistant Professor of Piano at Boston University. 

In an update to 2VS Director Samantha Arroyo, Gabrielian wrote, "I have released an album, Remix, which was Album of the Week in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I'm recording a new album in 2020 focused on piano transcriptions and some of that material will be performed at this concert.

I am very excited to come back to Montana – this is my fifth or sixth trip to Montana and my second to Seeley Lake. I'm always more than happy to come back for the wonderful people and also the support for the arts that the state has!"

Tickets for the concert will be available at the door: $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, 18 years and younger free with an accompanying adult. For further information, contact Arroyo: draconia_night@yahoo.com, 406-210-9620.