Kristina Arakelyan

Young Armenian composer Kristina Arakelyan was born in 1994 in Budapest, Hungary. She is currently a composition scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, supported with a scholarship by Raffy Manoukian. Previously she attended the Purcell School as a pianist and composer.  

Kristina won First Prize in the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition, resulting in broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 performed by the BBC Singers. In July 2011, she was commissioned by Music for Youth to write a choral piece for Canzonetta girls’ choir which was performed at the Schools’ Prom in the Royal Albert Hall. Kristina's other awards include Overall Cup winner of EPTA Composition Competition (2009), The David Cox Prize (2012), First Prize in the Shakespeare 400 Orchestra of the Swan Competition (2014). She was also the winner in the Purcell School competition resulting in a shared recital at the Wigmore hall.  

Notable concert halls where Kristina's compositions have been performed include the Vatroslav Lisinsky Hall (Croatia), Real Conservatorio Superior de Música Madrid (Spain), Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Southbank Centre, (England).