Tigran Abramovich Alikhanov Moscow Conservatory’s head of the Chamber Ensemble and Quartet Department passed away on Oct. 29 at the age of 80.

Alikhanov was born in 1943 in Moscow. His father Abram Alikhanov, was the founder and first director of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics named after him. His mother Slava Roshal, was a violin soloist at the Philharmonic Society and served as laureate of the all-Union competition of musicians-performers, held in 1935.  Alikhanov began his musical training at the piano department of the Central Music School with A. Sumbatian. He then studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Professor Lev Oborin from 1961 to 1969. He obtained two music degrees.

The pianist and pedagogue served as the head of the Chamber Ensemble and Quartet Department from 1971 until his death. He was also the Rector of the Moscow Conservatory from 2005-2009. Alikhanov won the M. Long and J. Thibaud International Competition in Paris in 1967. He was later named the laureate of the Hungarian Author’s Rights Agency for the promotion of Hungarian composers’ music in 1985 and was voted the People’s Artist of Russia in 2002.

Alikhanov conducted master classes in Moscow, Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Petrozavodsk, and several universities in the U.S. and Spain. He was the author of scientific and methodological works dedicated to the creative heritage of his teacher L. N. Oborin. Alikhanov’s activities are reflected in periodicals such as “Soviet Music,” “Musical Life,” “Soviet Culture,” and others. Alikhanov made a large number of radio and CD recordings. His discography includes works by J. S. Bach, F. Liszt, and A. Berg (Piano Sonata, the first recording in Russia).

Alikhanov was married to organist Ludmila Golub.