"The Two Pianos" - Vahagn Hayrapetyan & Michael Okun

Vahagn Hayrapetyan and Michael Okun for the first time will perform together on one stage. The concert will be held in two parts: in the first pianists will play in duet, and in the second they will join Yakov Okun as a drummer and bass player Vitaliy Solomonov.

MICHAEL OKUN

Mikhail Okun is a well-known Russian jazz pianist, one of the bebop stylists, an Honored Artist of Russia and an esteemed professor of the Gnessin Musical College. Okun has educated a few generations of Russian jazz musicians and is also known for a number of musical adaptations.

VAHAGN HAYRAPETYAN

Vahagn Hayrapetyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia on August 30, 1968. Graduated from the music school after P.I. Tchaikovsky and Yerevan State Conservatory as pianist and composer. Vahagn's exceptional manner of playing has evolved for years - carried away with jazz in his early years, he learnt from such jazz be - bop legends as Barry Harris and Frank Hewitt in New York and worked and share stages with many legendary jazz musicians,such as Elvin Jones,Jimmie Lovelace , Charles Davis,Leroy Williams,Ari Roland,Zaid Nasser, Chris Byears, Yaala Baalin, Keith Baala, Jason and Delfeo Marsalis and many more. He recorded and released three albums in NEW ORLEANS - ”Love for sale” with Clarence Johnson III, “Tripp to New Orleans” with Johnny Vidakovich and Ed Wise and “Bop it up” with Wendell Brunious,Brice Winston, Bill Huntington and Jason Marsalis.

Vahagn participated in many international jazz festivals such as Jazz Jamboree, St. Petersburg International Jazz Festival, Moscow vocal International Jazz Festival (in 1997, 1998 and 1999, accordingly), New Orleans Jazz Fest du Maurier, Montreal Jazz Festival etc.

THE TWO PIANOS PROJECT

A unique event that can be seen and heard only in the jazz club "ESSE".

Series of concerts, in which two of the pianists meet on stage and create original music, improvising on the themes of famous jazz standards. In numerous reviews mentioned very special and warm atmosphere of these concerts.