SENDI VARTANOVI

Biography

Sendi Vartanovi is a Georgian-born, Armenian-descended violinist of international acclaim, recognized for her extraordinary ability to fuse technical brilliance with deeply poetic expression. Praised for her “precision and passion” (Hersfelder Zeitung), and a tone that “makes emotions soar like swallows into the sky,” she performs not merely as a technician of the instrument, but as a musical storyteller—inviting audiences to experience life through sound.
 

Currently based in the United States, Ms. Vartanovi holds leadership positions with several distinguished ensembles: Associate Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Second Concertmaster of the Triumph Sinfonietta, and First Section Violinist with Symphony in C and the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic. She has previously served as Concertmaster and Associate Concertmaster of internationally respected orchestras, including the Tsinandali Festival Orchestra, Georgian Sinfonietta, and Djansugh Kakhidze Symphony Orchestra, where she has also been invited as a soloist on multiple occasions. She has performed under the batons of Gianandrea Noseda, Matthias Foremni, Lahav Shani, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Claudio Vandelli, among other prominent conductors.
 

A laureate of elite competitions, Ms. Vartanovi has received First Prizes from the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition, the VII Georgian National Competition of Musician-Performers, and the Beverly Hills National Audition. These distinctions led to invitations to perform as a soloist at world-renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Opera America, Baruch Performing Arts Center, and the Kimmel Center.
 

As co-founder of the award-winning VART Duo, she has led the ensemble to national recognition and forthcoming engagements throughout California and beyond.
 

Her artistry has earned her a place among the global elite of rising classical performers. As a laureate member of iPalpiti Artists International—an exclusive organization dedicated to uniting the world’s finest young musicians—she toured across California with a hand-selected ensemble of international virtuosi, praised by The New York Times for its “graceful phrasing and lustrous tone.” iPalpiti’s recognition of her artistry places her among an esteemed circle of musicians celebrated for shaping the future of classical music worldwide.
 

A champion of contemporary and underrepresented composers, Sendi Vartanovi has premiered works by Billy Childs, Ajibola Rivers, Irakli Tsintsadze, Tengiz Nozadze, and Nodar Kemularia, among others. She brings equal conviction to lesser-performed masterworks, including Schubert’s Fantasy in C, Strauss’s Violin Sonata, Ysaye’s Caprice d’après l’Étude en Forme de Valse, Brahms’s Concerto in D major, Khachaturian Violin Concerto in D minor, among many more.
 

Her musical training includes full-scholarship invitations from Europe’s most prestigious conservatories—including the Sibelius Academy (Finland), the Royal Academy of Music (Denmark), and the Academy of Music (Norway). Choosing to refine her artistry under the legendary violinist and conductor Dr. Eduard Schmieder, she moved to the United States specifically to study with him at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. Dr. Schmieder, described by Lord Yehudi Menuhin as “one of the outstanding teachers and exceptional violinists” of his time, became a pivotal mentor shaping her musical voice.
 

In addition to her performance career, Sendi Vartanovi is a passionate educator. She currently serves on the faculty of the Nelly Berman School of Music as a violin and viola instructor, ensemble coach, and artist-in-residence, where she mentors pre-college students, coaches chamber groups, and curates performance experiences that foster both technical growth and artistic imagination.
 

Her mission is captured in her guiding phrase:
“Sona, vita.” — Let life resound.
For Sendi Vartanovi, music is more than performance—it is presence, empathy, and the sound of the soul in bloom.