Honored Artist of Armenia, Professor of Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas
Rozaliya (Roza) Tandilyan was born in Yerevan in a family of a staff sergeant. Her parents noticed the musical inclinations of their daughters, Roza and Elza, from early childhood, and decided to fulfill the children’s desire to learn music and to play the piano.
The first years of their education were spent at the Music School after Alexander Spendiaryan, and their first piano teacher was Arpik Kazaryan, who instilled in the girls a love for classical music and developed their creative thinking and musical taste. After completing seven years of musical education, Roza Tandilyan continued her education at the Music College after Romanos Melikian in the special piano class of Olga Babasyan.
In 1950, Roza Tandilyan entered the Yerevan State Conservatory in the special piano class of Arno Babajanyan. She studied accompanist training in the class of Marta Navasardyan, and a chamber ensemble in the class of Hrachya Abajyan. That was a good experience for Roza. “A performer is, first of all, a creator who creates a fest,” this is how Arno Babajanyan explained to the students the purpose of a performing musician. Roza Tandilyan became one of the few students who graduated from his class, as soon as he worked at the Yerevan State Conservatory for only six years (1950-1956).
In 1955, Roza Tandilyan graduated from the conservatory with honors. For the diploma exam, she played “Heroic Ballad» for Piano and Orchestra by Arno Babajanyan. The author sat at the second piano.
During her studies at the conservatory, Roza Tandilyan began teaching at the seven-year Music School after Sayat-Nova (1953). Teaching at a popular school in Yerevan, in addition to responsibility, awakened her pedagogical talent.
After graduating from the conservatory, Rozaliya Tandilyan stayed at the Yerevan State Conservatory as an accompanist in the classes of professors L. Grigoryan (cello) and M. Khachatryan (trumpet) and later became also an accompanist in the cello class of Professor Geronti Talalyan. There she met her future husband Levon Hakobyan.
Simultaneously with being an accompanist, Roza Tandilyan began teaching at the General Piano Department, and in 1960, she moved to the Special Piano Department, continuing to work as an accompanist in the classes. For many years she performed with an ensemble of cellists under the direction of Geronti Talalyan.
Since her student years, Rosa Tandilyan has accompanied her fellow students and friends, giving patronage concerts in the cities and villages of Armenia. Among her partners were future competition laureates and professors: violinists Eduard Dayan, Villi Mokatsyan, Zoya Petrosyan, Henrik Smbatyan, trumpeter Yuri Balyan, cellists Medea Abrahamyan, John Gevorkyan, Felix Simonyan, and others.
In 1957, Rozaliya Tandilyan and the violinist, a recent graduate of Professor G. Bogdanyan’s class, H. Smbatyan, participated in the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow, where H. Smbatyan was awarded the 3rd prize. In addition, both participants from Armenia were awarded the Certificate of the Central Committee of the Komsomol (then the highest political body of youth of the Soviet Union). In 1963, Tandilyan participated in the All-Union Competition for Performers on Wind Instruments, where she was awarded a diploma for accompanist skills.
She participated in Transcaucasian competitions (in 1961, 1965, and 1969) with cellists J. Gevorkyan, T. Asoyan, F. Simonyan, L. Hakobyan, F. Hakobyan, and A. Mesropyan. At each of the three competitions, Rozaliya Tandilyan was awarded a diploma for accompanist skills. In the future, she successfully continued the collaboration with J. Gevorkyan and F. Simonyan.
But two names need to be highlighted: Medea Abrahamyan and Zoya Petrosyan. The collaboration with them lasted more than twenty-five years. Many programs were performed in cities of the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania.
In 1984, Medea Abrahamyan and Roza Tandilyan were invited to the VII Congress of Composers of Georgia, where they became the first interpreters of the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Vaja Azarashvili. In 1985, in Tbilisi local branch of the All-Union Recording Company “Melodia”, the sonata was recorded on a gramophone record. In addition to this, Medea Abrahamyan and Roza Tandilyan recorded two more records at the «Melodia» Company (in 1984 and 1985).
Roza Tandilyan and Medea Abrahamyan recorded CDs with the following works: “Intermezzo» from «Goyescas” by Enrique Granados, “Pièce en forme de Habanéra” by Maurice Ravel, “Adagio”, “Dance”, “Waltz” and Sonata in C Major, Op. 119 by Sergei Prokofiev, Sonata No. 2, in F Major, Op. 99 Johannes Brahms, Sonata No. 6, in A Major by Luigi Boccherini, Sonata «Arpeggione» in A minor, D. 821 by Franz Schubert. Roza Tandilyan and cellist J. Gevorkyan recorded two works: “Barcarolles” by Artemi Ayvazyan and “Impromptus” Op. 90 by Franz Schubert.
During her concert career, Roza Tandilyan performed more than eighty ensemble sonatas. She played several concerts in a trio with Artashes Mkrtchyan (violin) and Medea Abrahamyan (cello). In the concerts, they often performed the Piano Trio of Arno Babajanyan, which is a favorite one for the Armenian listeners.
Numerous stock recordings (sixty works) were made with performances of Roza Tandilyan on Radio Armenia with soloists — cellists G. Adamyan, M. Abrahamyan, J. Gevorkyan, Y. Edigaryan, F. Simonyan, and G. Talalyan, clarinetist G. Hakobyan, flutist S. Alaverdyan, and others. There are also recordings with an ensemble of cellists.
In 1983, Rozaliya Tandilyan was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Armenia.
Rozaliya Tandilyan, in addition to accompanist and ensemble performance, was actively and fruitfully engaged in teaching work. In 1985, she got the title of Associate Professor, and in 1991 — Professor. Tandilyan headed one of the departments of special piano at the Yerevan State Conservatory (1991-2002). Over the years of work at the conservatory, she trained more than one hundred and twenty students who had success in musical educational institutions and concert organizations in Armenia, in the republics of the former USSR, and abroad.
Noteworthy was the participation of students of Professor Roza Tandilyan within the framework of the “New Names” programs, the Vladimir Spivakov International Foundation, and the Arno Babajanyan International Foundation.
Professor Roza Tandilyan was repeatedly appointed as the chairman of the jury of the Arno Babajanyan Competition for Young Performers (from the 2nd to the 7th competition) and was a member of the jury of various regional and republican competitions and shows of students of music schools and colleges in Armenia.
Roza Tandilyan is the compiler and editor of music publications: Collection of Virtuoso Etudes by Armenian Composers (Yerevan, 1987), Collection of Piano Pieces by Arno Babajanyan (Yerevan, 2006), and Piano Pieces by Vartan Adjemian (Yerevan, 2002). She edited the piano parts of cello sonatas by E. Aristakesyan, G. Melikyan, A.(H) Stepanyan, and A. Terteryan.
Her articles were published in a book about the work of Vahe Aharonyan, and a brochure about the pedagogical activities of Olga Babasyan. She wrote three memoir articles about Arno Babajanyan (Yerazhstakan Hayastan magazine (arm: «Երաժշտական Հայաստան», eng: «Musical Armenia» magazine), YSC, Yerevan 2001, 2006, and 2011), and an article for the book “Our Arno” (Yerevan 2006).
Honored Artist of Armenia, Professor Rozaliya Tandilyan was awarded certificates for military patronage concerts, certificates of honor, diplomas, and medals. Her recent award (on the occasion of the pianist’s anniversary) was the Gold Medal of the RA Ministry of Culture.
All the members of Roza Tandilyan’s family are musicians. Her sister, Elza Tandilyan, is an Honored Teacher of the Republic of Armenia; she was the head teacher of the Sayat-Nova school for thirty-six years. Her husband, Levon Hakobyan, is a laureate of the Transcaucasian competition, for many years he was a deputy concertmaster of the cello group of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia. Her daughter, Irina Hakobyan, finished school in the class of Elza Tandilyan and graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatory in the class of Roza Tandilyan. Now she is teaching piano at one of the Moscow music schools.