Hayk Hekekyan: Exploring the Heart of Music Through the Oboe
- WOMCO
- Nov 6
- 6 min read
Hayk Hekekyan, oboist from the Cologne University of Music and Dance, Armenia, won the Grand Prize in the Advanced (Age 18–22) Category at the Saint-Saëns International Music Competition, 2025 Season 3 (June 12 – September 12), with results announced in October 2025. Following his outstanding performance, we spoke with Hayk to learn more about the story behind his award-winning interpretation, his musical journey, and his artistic vision for the future.
Could you share the background of your award-winning performance of "Lebrun Oboe Concerto No. 1 in D minor"? When and where did you record it, and what led you to choose this piece for your performance?
Hayk Hekekyan:
"I have been fortunate to perform Lebrun’s Oboe Concerto in D minor with several wonderful orchestras, including the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. I love this piece for its beautiful, human story — it feels like a thought that comes from the heart, one you can truly convey to the listener. It is a very interesting and somehow deeply touching work."
Your performance of the 'Lebrun Oboe Concerto No. 1 in D minor' was accompanied by an orchestra. Could you introduce the orchestra and your conductor to us, and share any memorable moments or insights from the rehearsals and the performance?
Hayk Hekekyan:
"The performance I submitted to your competition was recorded during my participation as Armenia’s representative at Eurovision Young Musicians in Bodø, Norway. It was a great honor and joy for me to perform with the Norwegian Radio and Television Orchestra, under the sensitive direction of Eivind Aadland. I am deeply grateful to the Public Television Company of Armenia, and to both the national and international jury members, for trusting me with the privilege of representing Armenia on an international stage. I experienced unforgettable days and emotions, for which I am truly thankful."
Could you talk to us about yourself, your journey in music, and your future goals? Could you also share your perspective on what defines a great oboist in today’s digital age, and what you consider to be the most significant artistic or professional challenges facing musician today and in the coming years?
Hayk Hekekyan:
"My first and most important steps on the oboe were made at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. This beloved institution, with its long and beautiful traditions, was directed for more than twenty years by my father, who raised it to an extraordinary level of excellence and success. Among his many innovations was inviting some of the country’s finest musicians to teach there, including my oboe teacher Harutyun Shakhkyan, to whom I owe the knowledge, taste, and the wonderful, fortunate path I have had as an oboist. I am now studying at the University of Music and Dance Cologne, in the class of Professor Christian Wetzel, an outstanding specialist and a warm, already very dear person. I am deeply happy that life has given me the opportunity to learn from him and to grow in his class. I look forward with great enthusiasm to the new professional perspectives that await me there.
I undoubtedly owe my choice of profession to my parents — my father, Tigran Hekekyan, a conductor well known in the international choral world, and my mother, Marine Margaryan, a pianist, an excellent pedagogue, and a winner of international competitions. I am very grateful to them both. From the first moment I opened the oboe case, I fell in love with this unique-sounding instrument. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most difficult instruments in the world, the oboe, I believe, shapes and strengthens a person from within — making one strong, persistent, and hardworking, above all — resilient. I truly love the spirit of mutual support among oboists around the world — how they find each other and help one another like members of one big family. We are an essential color in the great and rich palette of music — the “salt” of that picture. I am proud and grateful to be a part of this great and powerful family. It’s a wonderful feeling.
I should also mention that from the age of three until nearly eighteen, I sang in the renowned “Little Singers of Armenia” choir, conducted by my father. With this choir, I performed in dozens of countries and on the world’s most prestigious stages. The choir taught me discipline, teamwork, and purposefulness. It gave me the invaluable sense of being part of a shared mission. And through watching my father’s gestures while conducting, I absorbed — from early childhood — the natural and truthful way of shaping a musical phrase. These are lessons beyond measure."
Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition and anyone you'd like to thank?
Hayk Hekekyan:
"I take part in competitions both to test myself and because I am inspired by the opportunity to present my performances to professionals and a wider audience.
I feel happy when my work is appreciated and when I receive positive feedback.
Since I see music as a way to share love, kindness, encouragement, and consolation with people, I feel fulfilled whenever I have the chance to speak to many hearts through the language of music."
Awards:
• Brahms International Music Competition, Absolute Winner, Poland, 2025
• Saint-Saens International Music Competition, Grand Prize, Great Britain, 2025
• Winner of the first Emerging Artist Program: Recording & Releases for Armenian
Musicians, by Primavera foundation, 2025, Armenia
• Finalist of the “Classical Eurovision 2024“, Norway
• XI Stockholm International Music Competition, I Prize, Sweden, 2024
• “Fanny Mendelssohn” International Competition, Absolute First Prize, Belgium, 2024
• “The Road to Classical Eurovision” Winner – Selection of the Armenian Participant,
2024
• “Euterpe” International Music Competition, I Prize, Germany, 2023
“Anton Rubinshtein International Competition Woodwinds-Oboe”, II Prize, Germany,
2023
• “Tsinandali 5 th Festival”, Selected as a member of the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra,
Georgia, 2023
• “Birmingham International Music Competition”, II Prize, Great Britain, 2022
• “Amadeus” International Music Competition, I Prize, Austria, 2022
• “BTHVN Wien” International Music Competition, III Prize, Austria, 2022
• “Tokio International Music Competition”, I Prize, Japan, 2022
• “Moscow Meets Friends” International Festival, Performance with chamber orchestra
“Moscow Virtuosi,” Russia, 2022
• “AGBU Discovers Talents” Wind Instruments Competition** Grand Prix, Armenia, 2022
• “Medici International Music Competition”, I Prize, Belgium, 2021
• “Young and Talented Musicians International Competition “Nouvelles Etoiles”, I Prize,
France, 2021
• VIII Stockholm International Music Competition, I Prize and Audience Choice Award,
Sweden, 2021
• International Competition Dedicated to S. Prokofiev “Silk Way”, I Prize, Russia, 2021
• “Talents of Europe” International Art Festival & Contest, I Prize, Spain, 2021
• “The North International Music Competition”, II Prize, Sweden, 2020
• “Music for Future Foundation” M4FF Online Competition, One of 10 Winners, Armenia,
2020
• “The Nutcracker XX” International Competition, Russia, 2019
• “Wind Instruments Grand Competition”, I Prize, Armenia, 2019
• “Art Music” Grand Prix, Armenia, 2018, 2020
• “Otar Taktakishvili International Competition”, Diploma, Georgia, 2018
• “Renaissance” I Prize, Armenia, 2017, 2019
Accolades:
• Member of “New Names” International Program of Young Talents
• Member of “Artis Futura” International Foundation for the Preservation and
Development of Culture and Art
• Member of “Music for Future Foundation”
• Member of the Little Singers of Armenia choir, 2008-2023
• Participant in the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra at the Tsinandali Festival, Georgia,
2023
• Participated in the “Collegium Musicum” 65 th International Summer Academy
Pommersfelden, Germany, 2022
• Master Classes for Wind Soloists during “International Summer Academy” Payerbach,
Austria, 2022
• Graduated from Sayat-Nova School of Music with honors and a medal from the piano
and oboe departments, 2023
• Concert of the International Fund “Artis Futura” at the Moscow International Music
House with the Moscow Symphonic Orchestra “Russian Philharmony,” Russia, 2021
• Inclassica Festival and Middle East Classical Music Academy, 44 concerts and 48
master-classes, UAE, 2021
• Jubilee Concert of the International Fund “Artis Futura” at the St. Petersburg Concert
Hall with the St. Petersburg Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Pavel Petrenko,
Russia, 2021
• The 15 th Youth Delphic Games of the CIS Member States, Diploma, Russia, 2021
• Philadelphia International Music Festival’s Semi-Annual Virtual Concerto Competition,
I Prize, USA, 2021
Experience:
• Performed with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia (NCOA), conducted by
Karen Durgaryan 2020, Ruben Asatryan 2021, Harutyun Arzumanyan 2024 Yerevan.
• Performed with the Armenian State Symphonic Orchestra (ASSO), conducted by
Feliks Korobov, 2021, Dubai, UAE , conducted by Sergei Smbatyan, 2022, 2024
Yerevan, 2024 Dilidjan, Armenia.
• Performed with the St. Petersburg Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Pavel
Petrenko, 2021, St. Petersburg, Russia
• Performed with the Moscow Symphonic Orchestra “Russian Philharmony”, conducted
by Sergey Tararin, 2022, Moscow, Russia
• Performed with the Chamber Orchestra “Moscow Virtuosi”, conducted by Vladimir
Spivakov, 2022, Moscow, Russia
• Performed with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by H.
Arzumanyan, 2022, conducted by R. Asatryan, 2023, N. Mkrtchyan 2024, Yerevan,
Armenia.
• Performed with the Broadcasting Orchestra of Norway, cond. by Eivind Aadland, 2024,
Bodo, Norway.
- Participated in several concerts, festivals, seminars, and symposiums worldwide
