Armenian-born cellist Alexander Chaushian is acclaimed worldwide for his refined artistry and powerful performances. He has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armenian Philharmonic, and Boston Pops, and has performed at major venues such as London’s Southbank Centre, Carnegie Hall, and Suntory Hall.

A former student of the Menuhin School, Guildhall, and Hochschule Berlin, Alexander is a laureate of top international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky in Moscow and ARD in Munich. As a former NY Young Concert Artists alumnus, he toured extensively across the US.

Alexander collaborates with established artists like Emmanuel Pahud, François-Frédéric Guy, and Julia Fischer. His acclaimed recordings for BIS include collaborations with Yevgeny Sudbin, and his 2023 concerto with the Armenian Philharmonic was named ‘Album of the Week’ by The Independent.

Alexander is the Artistic Director of the Yerevan Music Festival and the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival in Cyprus.

After receiving the Critics' Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1990), Pietro De Maria won 1st Prize in other prestigious international competitions such as the Dino Ciani - Teatro La Scala in Milan (1990), the Géza Anda in Zurich (1994) and the Mendelssohn in Hamburg (1997).

An active concert pianist, he has played as soloist with the best known orchestras, with conductors of the stature of Roberto Abbado, Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniele Gatti, Alan Gilbert, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Ton Koopman, Michele Mariotti, Ingo Metzmacher, Gianandrea Noseda, Corrado Rovaris, Daniele Rustioni, Yutaka Sado, Sándor Végh and Jonathan Webb.

De Maria studied with Giorgio Vianello and Gino Gorini in Venice and with Maria Tipo in Geneva.

His repertory ranges from Bach to Ligeti and he is the first Italian pianist to have played Chopin’s complete piano works in six public concerts. More recently, he has been focusing on Bach and Beethoven, presenting both books of The WTC, the Goldberg Variations, the 32 Sonatas and the 5 Concertos in his concerts.

He has recorded Chopin’s complete piano works, The WTC and the Goldberg Variations for Decca, Chopin’s Piano Concertos for Dynamic, receiving important acknowledgments from international publications such as Diapason, International Piano, MusicWeb-International and Pianiste.

Pietro De Maria is Academic of Santa Cecilia and teaches at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and at the Academy of Music in Pinerolo.