Natalia Kazaryan: A Pianist Expanding the Horizon of Classical Music
By Chad Eric Smith, Director of Marketing & Communications, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts
I wrote these words while listening to Dr. Natalia Kazaryan play Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, op. 12. In her hands, the work unfolds with luminous clarity, each phrase marked by both tenderness and fire. It is a reminder that the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts (CABCoFA) is home not only to extraordinary students but to faculty whose artistry reverberates far beyond campus.
Dr. Kazaryan, Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator, is one of those rare artists whose reputation precedes her. From Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, she has been described by The New York Sun for her “prodigious ability” and praised by Nice-Matin as “a marvel among marvels.” Yet, what makes her invaluable to Howard University's(CABCoFA) is not only her virtuosity, but her vision.
Reimagining What a Concert Can Be
As founder of Counterpoint Concerts, Dr. Kazaryan has reshaped how classical music meets the public. “When I started Counterpoint Concerts, I wasn’t trying to build just another concert series,” she told me. “I wanted to create a space where all kinds of creativity could come together and make something special.”
In practice, this means programming that moves beyond tradition — blending music with poetry, live visuals, and unexpected technologies. From performing Bach on harpsichord, piano, and synthesizer at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, to curating an all-women composers recital at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery (named one of the best concerts of summer 2019 by The Washington Post), her concerts become conversations — between past and present, sound and image, artist and audience.
“What makes Counterpoint stand out,” she said, “is how we mix things up. We don’t just present music; we bring in visuals, poetry, and live production to open up new ways of experiencing it. We celebrate the masterpieces everyone knows, but we also shine a light on what artists are creating today.”
A Season of Bold Experimentation
This fall, Counterpoint Concerts opens with Guardian of the Night (September 26–27, 2025, Dupont Underground), a tribute to Maurice Ravel on the 150th anniversary of his birth. Kazaryan will perform Miroirs, Jeux d’eau, and the formidable Gaspard de la nuit against live, real-time animation. “It’s a chance to step inside the music — to see it, hear it, and experience it in a way that feels completely new,” she said.
That spirit carries throughout her 2025–2026 season of performances, which includes:
- October 17, 2025 | Arts Club of Washington – Pale Yellow
The Last Stand Quartet, featuring musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra, will join Natalia Kazaryan for a program of piano trio, quartet, and quintet repertoire. Works will include Jennifer Higdon’s Piano Trio No. 1, Pale Yellow, Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, and Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet. - November 14, 2025 | The Powerhouse – Can You Hear Me?
Percussionist Jeff Stern and pianist Natalia Kazaryan will present an immersive program blending acoustic and electronic music with video projections. The evening will feature works that blur the lines between acoustic and electronic, serious and playful, including a piece by recent Howard University graduate Sean McCarthy-Grant. - December 12, 2025 | S Street Salon – Mostly Mahler
Baritone Rob McGinness will return to the S Street Salon by popular demand, joined by cellist Joseph Gotoff and pianist Natalia Kazaryan for an evening centered on Gustav Mahler’s most cherished song cycles. - January 24–25, 2026 | Kennedy Center – NSO Music for Young Audiences: Musical Tails
An NSO piano quintet, joined by Natalia Kazaryan, will take audiences on a musical journey through the timeless tales of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. - February 20, 2026 | Arts Club of Washington – French Affair
Mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams and pianist Natalia Kazaryan will present a program of French songs by Berlioz, Viardot, Ravel, and the Boulanger sisters—composers who defied convention, faced adversity, and remained true to their artistic voices. - April 24, 2026 | The Powerhouse – Beyond the Frame
Natalia Kazaryan will perform alongside cellist Gabriel Cabezas in a program pairing Debussy and Weinberg with contemporary composer Paul Wiancko. The concert will invite listeners to consider music’s dialogue across eras. - May 29, 2026 | Dupont Underground – Quartet for the End of Time
Natalia Kazaryan will close the season with Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, performing with clarinetist Zachary Good, violinist Katie Hyun, and cellist Brook Speltz. This transcendent work will serve as a powerful culmination of Counterpoint’s season.
Click Here to learn more.
A Gem at the Heart of CABCoFA
At Howard, Dr. Kazaryan is not just a performer but a mentor shaping the next generation of artists. Her students benefit not only from technical mastery but from her insistence that classical music must be both timeless and timely. She encourages them to honor the canon while amplifying voices too often overlooked.
Her presence affirms what CABCoFA stands for: excellence, innovation, and cultural leadership rooted in legacy yet unafraid of reinvention.
As her notes from Fantasiestücke continue to linger in my ears, I am struck by how perfectly they mirror her impact here — lyrical, powerful, and unforgettable. Dr. Natalia Kazaryan is, quite simply, a gem within CABCoFA. The more the world knows her story and those of so many here, the more they will know why CABCoFA shines so bright.
Follow Counter Concerts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counterpointconcerts