Gerard Kantarjian

Kantarjian, Gerard

Kantarjian, Gerard. Violinist, teacher, b Cairo, of Armenian parents, 1 Oct 1931, naturalized US 1964. A pupil of Adolph Menashes in Cairo and Váša Příhoda in Italy, he toured at 17 in Italy and Switzerland. After studies 1953-8 on scholarship at the Curtis Institute with Ivan Galamian, he placed 11th in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in 1959. He performed as soloist with some 20 US orchestras, was concertmaster for a season in Leopold Stokowski's American SO, played in chamber groups, and participated 1960-7 in the Casals Festival, Puerto Rico. At the invitation of Seiji Ozawa he served 1967-70 as the concertmaster of the TS. He held the same positions 1977-9 with the COC orchestra and 1982-9 with the Chamber Players of Toronto, and he has been a member of many Toronto studio orchestras. He has performed as a soloist in recital and with Ontario orchestras. He was the violinist 1973-6 in the Ararat Trio with the pianist Raffi Armenian and the cellist Gisela Depkat, and in 1986 formed the Rembrandt Trio with the pianist Valerie Tryon and the cellist Coenraad Bloemendal; the trio recorded works by Schubert and Mendelssohn in 1989 (Dorian DOR-90130 CD). Kantarjian can also be heard on an album recorded in 1979 with fellow Armenian Raymond Leylekian and his Quintet (RLP 012980) and on the 1983 recital recording Kantarjian Live (Masters of the Bow MBS-2016). Kantarjian has taught privately, and was on staff in 1977 at the Toronto Summer School of Music (held at Upper Canada College) and the Blue Mountain School of Music, Collingwood, Ont. He began teaching at the University of Toronto in 1984, and has also taught at the Orford Arts Centre in 1988, and at the biennial Canadian Festival of Youth Orchestras in Banff in 1988 and 1990.