Levon Oganezov

Oganezov was born in Moscow on 25 December 1940. His father, Sarkis Artemovich Oganezov, was a shoemaker, and his mother Mariam Sergeevna Oganezova (nee Karumova), was a housewife.^[1] He was the sixth child in the family; According to him, he was born because of the ban on abortion that came into force in 1936.^[2] He grew up in a Georgian speaking household, and also understood Armenian.^[3][4]

He began his stage career as a child, and according to family legend, one of the concerts where he performed as a child was attended by Joseph Stalin.^[5] He graduated from the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College, then in 1967 from the Moscow Conservatory in piano class.^[6] At the age of 18, he replaced Naum Walter at a concert in the Column Hall, where he accompanied tenor Mikhail Alexandrovich.^[3]

He was a co-host of the television programs "White Parrot Club", "Fuss Around the Piano", "Good Evening with Igor Ugolnikov" (1997) and "Life is Beautiful".^[7]

On 18 March 1993, he was named an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.^[8] On 25 December 2010, he was awarded the People's Artist of the Russian Federation.^[9]

Oganezov died in New York City on 13 December 2025, at the age of 84.^[10]

• Levon Oganezov discography at Discogs
• Levon Oganezov at IMDb