Marianna Shirinyan

Contact

Xenia Groh-Hu
xh@karstenwitt.com
+49 30 214 594-224

Kerstin Alt
ka@karstenwitt.com
+49 30 214 594-235

General Management

Biography

Shirinyan's energy and the clarity of her fingerwork are infectious. GRAMOPHONE MAGAZIN

Marianna Shirinyan's vivid, virtuosic musicality and charismatic stage presence have made her an internationally sought-after soloist and chamber musician. Full of joy in music-making and with a warmth that communicates directly to audiences, the Armenian-Danish pianist brings fine sensitivity, technical command, and tonal beauty to a wide repertoire.

When Marianna Shirinyan won five prizes at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2006, it marked the beginning of a remarkable career. In Scandinavia in particular, she has since established her reputation as one of the most prominent pianists and a creative and prolific figure in the music world, appearing regularly with the major Nordic orchestras, and taking on the role of artistic director of various chamber music festivals. In the current 2025/26 season, she is Artist in Residence with the Aarhus Symfoniorkester.

Marianna Shirinyan is also a welcome guest on the international stage, having performed with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, under conductors including Andrey Boreyko, Simon Gaudenz, Antonello Manacorda, Eva Ollikainen, Olari Elts, Jun Märkl, Petr Popelka, Daniel Raiskin, Krzysztof Urbański, and Joshua Weilerstein.

Chamber music is another constant in Marianna Shirinyan's artistic life. She currently performs regularly as part of a trio with German actress Katja Riemann and violinist Franziska Hölscher. As both chamber musician and soloist, she has appeared at Wigmore Hall in London and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, as well as at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, the MDR Musiksommer, festivals in Bergen, Stavanger, Sandefjord, and the Lofoten Islands, the Reykjavik Midsummer Music Festival, and the Oxford Chamber Music Festival.

Marianna Shirinyan's impressive discography has recently been extended by releases featuring works by Maurice Ravel and Alexander Scriabin (La Nuit, 2025), as well as duo recordings with Swedish cellist Torleif Thedéen with chamber music by Clara and Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss (An die Musik, 2024), with Hungarian cellist Dóra Kokas featuring chamber music by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Dmitri Shostakovich (Hypnosis, 2024), and with violist Maxim Rysanov (Shostakovich, 2024).

Marianna Shirinyan's many awards include the P2 Prize of Danish Radio for her contribution to Danish musical life (2010) and the Carl and Anne Marie Nielsen Award (2022). She has been a Steinway Artist since 2013. Having taught as a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 2015 to 2024, she has been a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music since 2024.

2025/26 season

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.

Repertoire

J.S. Bach

Piano Concerto in F minor No 5, BWV 1056

Piano Concert in E major No 2, BWV 1053

L. V. Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, op. 15

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op.73 “Emperor”

J. Brahms

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15

F. Chopin

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21

G. Gershwin

Rhapsody in Blue

E. Grieg

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

W. A. Mozart

Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat Major, K. 271 "Jeunehomme"

Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414

Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466

Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 "Elvira Madigan"

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Programmes

SOLO RECITALS

La Nuit

J. S. Bach: Partita No. 2 or G. Bacewicz: Piano Sonata No. 2
M. Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

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F. Chopin:
Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60
Berceuse in D-flat major, Op. 57
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1
Waltz in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2
Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22

Kreisleriana

J. Brahms: Piano Pieces, Op. 118
G. Bacewicz: Piano Sonata No. 2

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R. Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16

DUO – WITH YURA LEE, VIOLIN

Beethoven – Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin

The three programmes can be performed individually or as a complete cycle in one day.

Programme I

L. v. Beethoven:
Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 12 No. 1
Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 12 No. 2
Sonata No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 12 No. 3
Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23

Programme II

L. v. Beethoven:
Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 “Spring”
Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 30 No. 1
Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2

Programme III

L. v. Beethoven:
Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30 No. 3
Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”
Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 96

References

"Marianna Shirinyan has a brilliant sense of humour at the piano. She possesses the necessary lion's paw and a pearly fluency that makes the bubbles in an aquarium glisten."

Fränkische Landeszeitung, 22/04/2026

“Mozart gave the orchestra a more prominent role, yet the pianist embraced this concept with passion, never overshadowing the orchestra and shining in the solo passages. Outstanding—there was enthusiastic applause for Marianna Shirinyan, and she returned for an encore.” (Mozart Piano Concerto no. 21)

Chemnitzer Zeitung, Jana Peters, 17/04/26

"Shirinyan's energy and her clear touch are infectious."

GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE

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