Born to a family of musicians, Sergey’s journey in the world of classical music started with violin studies first with his grandmother Tatiana Hayrapetyan, followed by the classes with violinists Bagrat Vardanyan, Zakhar Bron and Yuri Davtyan. A graduate of Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Smbatyan also graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2012. He also holds a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from the Institute of Arts, a division of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. 

The conservatory undergraduate Sergey Smbatyan lay the foundation of the future Armenian State Symphony Orchestra in 2005, assembling like-minded young fellows into a youth orchestra that would champion classical music in Armenia and promote Armenian musical heritage worldwide. The future achievements awaiting the orchestra along its journey proved the visceral faith of its founder to be an infallible foresight. Throughout the 2020 concert tour with the renowned violin virtuoso and the orchestra’s artist-in-residence Maxim Vengerov brilliant performances were hosted on reputable stages around Europe - Berliner Philharmonie, Vienna's Musikverein, London's Barbican Center,  Prague's Dvorak Hall, Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus, Moscow's Zaryadye Concert Hall and elsewhere.

Sergey Smbatyan also holds a rich record of conducting experience with foreign orchestras, including, among many others, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Among Sergey Smbatyan’s most cherished and sustainable legacies of are his self-founded 4 music festivals (Armenian Composing Art Festival, Khachaturian International Festival, “Armenia” International Music Festival and “Contemporary Classics” Composers’ Festival), as well as the introduction of “Conducting” category in the annual Khachaturian International Competition,  which is a member of the prestigious World Federation of International Musical Competitions (WFIMC). Other valuable enterprises include 5 exclusive orchestras formed in the framework of significant events, 7 special musical projects and concert series and 7 educational projects, the most massive and impactful of the letter being “DasA” (literally- “ClassA), launched in 2018. Targeting high school students in Armenia, this project’s mission focuses on the popularization of classical music and positive transformation in the young generation’s attitude towards classical music.

By virtue of his relentless and creative outlooks, Smbatyan always pursues new dimensions for innovative artistry and embarks on novel initiatives in the Armenian cultural context.

In 2015, Sergey Smbatyan received the title of Chevalier of the “Order of Arts and Letters”, awarded by the Minister of Culture and Communication of France. In 2017, the honorary title of “Worker in Arts of Armenia” was conferred on him for the great merit in rearing of creative generation.

 “The conductor led the orchestra with an uncommon attention to detail, skillfully guiding the musicians through the whole performance. His hands were clear and precise; this was a performance of great dignity and nobility.
A highly successful and passionate performance!”.

Hessisch Niedersächsische Allgemeine

In China, Ning feng is held in the highest regard; he appears regularly with all the major orchestras, and in 20/21 is Artist-in-Residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. At the beginning of the 20/21 season Ning Feng embarked on a tour of China, performing Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas in 14 different cities. During this period, he also performed Beethoven Violin Concerto with Shanghai Symphony Orchesta, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and China Philharmonic Orchestra.

In chamber music Ning Feng works regularly with Igor Levit and together they have performed at the Schubertiade Festival, and across Germany and London, including both Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre. He has performed many times at Kissinger Sommer Festival, and has collaborated with artists including Edgar Moreau, Daniel Müller-Schott and Nicholas Angelich

Ning Feng records for Channel Classics and his most recent disc ‘Virtuosismo’ featuring Paganini Violin Concerto No.1 and Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto No.4 was released in September 2019. His earlier recording of Bach’s complete solo works for violin was hailed by Gramophone as “unlike anyone else’s… it’s the illusion of a freewheeling conversation projected from within that held me captive.” His discography also includes concerti by Elgar, Finzi, Tchaikovsky, Bruch (Scottish Fantasy), works for violin and orchestra by Sarasate, Lalo, Ravel and Bizet/Waxman, and with the Dragon Quartet works by Schubert, Dvořák, Borodin, Shostakovich and Weinberg.

Born in Chengdu, China, Ning Feng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, the Hanns Eisler School of Music (Berlin) with Antje Weithaas and the Royal Academy of Music (London) with Hu Kun, where he was the first student ever to be awarded 100% for his final recital. The recipient of prizes at the Hanover International, Queen Elisabeth and Yehudi Menuhin International violin competitions, Ning Feng was First Prize winner of the 2005 Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand), and in 2006 won first prize in the International Paganini Competition.

Ning Feng plays the 1710 Stradivari violin known as the ‘Vieuxtemps Hauser’, by kind arrangement with Premiere Performances of Hong Kong, and plays on strings by Thomastik-Infeld, Vienna.

Outside France he performs at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall), the Morgan Library, Munich Gasteig, NDR Hanover, Konzerthaus Berlin, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory as well as in Vienna, Geneva, Ghent, Brussels, Germany and Poland. Amongst the many prestigious international festivals that invite him are Verbier, Colmar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Duszniki Chopin Piano Festival, Chopin Festival Marienbad, St Petersburg Arts Square International Winter Festival, Euriade Festival in the Netherlands, Casals Festival Puerto Rico, Montreal Bach Festival and Interlaken Classics Festival in Switzerland. In early 2016 he was invited to participate at Les Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad at the invitation of Renaud Capuçon, winning the “Prix André Hoffmann”.

A frequent guest artist in Asia, Rémi Geniet has performed Chopin Piano Concerto no. 2 in Suntory Hall with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra in China as well as with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, the Hiroshima and Gunma Symphony orchestras and the Kansai Philharmonic. He has given recitals at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Izumi Hall, Osaka, the Saitama Arts Center, National Concert Hall in Taiwan and Kumho Art Hall, Seoul.

Notable highlights of 2019-2020 included concerts with the Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Orchestre Victor-Hugo Franche-Comté and Orchestre Pau-Pays de Béarn as well as recitals at the Salle Gaveau, two performances at Radio France as part of their Beethoven celebrations and invitations to perform at the Rencontres Musicales d’Evian with Emmanuel Tjeknovarian, La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival and the Pianos Folies du Touquet. The same season saw invitations from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the New York Virtuosi, and from the Camerata Salzburg to perform with them at the Rostropovich Festival in Moscow.

In 2020-2021, Rémi Geniet will perform Beethoven's Concerto No. 5 with the Orchestre de chambre Nouvelle Europe conducted by Nicolas Krauze and with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire.

Rémi Geniet’s chamber music partners count as some of the leading artists of their generation - Alexandra Soumm, Aurélien Pascal, Raphaël Sévère and Daniel Lozakovitj with whom he performed at the Salle Molière in Lyon and at the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence – as well as established artists such as Augustin Dumay.

Having studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Brigitte Engerer and at the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in the class of Rena Shereshevskaya, Rémi worked with Evgeni Koroliov at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. He also studied orchestral conducting with George Pehlivanian.

Both his debut all-Bach CD, which received a “Diapason D’OR of the Year” in 2015, and his second release of four Beethoven sonatas, also on the Mirare label, were unanimously praised by the critics.

“Instrumentally intimidating, intellectually astonishing and musically overwhelming. The most humane, beautiful, profound Opus 110 heard for a very long time”
Alain Lompech, Diapason

The ASSO has worked with Valery Gergiev, Krzysztof Penderecki, Vladimir Spivakov, Maxim Vengerov, Denis Matsuev, Vadim Repin, Vag Papyan, Boris Berezovsky and many others.

The ASSO has performed in numerous venues both in Armenia and elsewhere. World-famous concert halls have hosted the ASSO including but not limited to concert halls in Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, China, The Netherlands, Italy, Lebanon, etc. The musicians have performed in Opera Garnier (Paris), Konzerthaus (Berlin), The Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Musikverein (Vienna), Dubai Opera House, Teatro Real (Madrid), Dr. Anton Philipszaal (Hague), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), P. Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Concert Hall and Conservatory Great Concert Hall (Moscow), etc. ASSO's concerts have been broadcasted by Medici.tv, Euronews, and Classic fm.

The Orchestra has taken part in numerous international festivals, to name a few, “Moscow Easter Festival” (Moscow, Russia), “YOUNG EURO CLASSIC'' (Berlin, Germany), "Kultursommer Nordhessen" (Kassel, Germany), "Young Classic Wratislavia" (Wroclaw, Poland), Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, and many others. In addition, the ASSO has been the resident orchestra at the Aram Khachaturian International Competition (since 2007) and performed as a resident orchestra at the Musica Riva International Festival (2013, Riva del Garda, Italy), the 9th Frederic Chopin International Competition for Young Pianists (2014, Foshan, China), the Al Bustan International Festival (2014-2016, Beirut, Lebanon), Malta International Music Festival (2018), etc. In 2019, the Orchestra performed Nino Rota's original score from “The Godfather” and John Williams' music from “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” under the baton of American composer/conductor Justin Freer in Dubai Opera House.

The orchestra has got a rich portfolio of interesting musical projects and charitable events both in Armenia and overseas. Since 2010, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra with the support of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport has been holding the annual Armenian Composers' Art Festival and since 2013, the yearly Khachaturian International Festival. The ASSO continually presents new exciting projects, such as concert series entitled “Hollywood Non-Stop,” “Cartoon Non-Stop,” “Tours to...”, “ASSO Meets” and others. Another fantastic project is the regular series “Master Creates Masters.” Within this project, the younger musicians get the chance to take master classes from world-famous masters such as Valery Gergiev, Zakhar Bron, and others. Since 2018 the Orchestra has been implementing the valuable educational-cultural project DasA with the support of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. 

The extensive repertoire of the Orchestra ranges from classical to contemporary music. In 2011 the Orchestra, headed by the artistic director and principal conductor Sergey Smbatyan, released its first CD entitled Music is the Answer. Recorded at Sony recording studio, the CD includes works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Eduard Hayrapetyan.