Armen Donelian

For fifty years, pianist, composer and Fulbright Scholar ARMEN DONELIAN has distinguished himself in 25 countries as a performer, recording artist, producer, educator and with his published writings. Donelian’s music is a distinctive blend of influences including his Armenian origin, his Classical technique, and his association with some of the biggest names in Jazz. And, according to Metronom, he achieves this fusion “in such a natural way that one can tell it’s a master’s work.”

As a child, Armen absorbed the sound of Armenian, Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern music at social gatherings and from records his father played at home.

During his youth, Armen trained for 12 years as a concert pianist at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in White Plains, NY with the late Michael Pollon. His studies included regular solo piano recitals and several concertos with local symphonies, and culminated in a 1968 graduation recital including works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and Prokofiev.

At about 15, Donelian joined a Jazz group led by Arthur Ryerson, and things were never quite the same after that. Captivated by the Jazz feeling, he began listening to Jazz masters like Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

After graduating from Columbia University in 1972, Donelian apprenticed for two years with Richie Beirach, one of the strongest pianists in New York. He learned how to meld his Classical training with his instinct for Jazz improvisation and composition.

Armen Donelian broke into the Jazz world in 1975 with Mongo Santamaria’s vibrant Afro-Cuban Jazz octet. Tours and recordings ensued, including Afro-Indio, featuring Donelian's keyboard work on the song "Mambo Mongo," and Sofrito, the title cut of which has been viewed over 4M times on youtube, with three Donelian compositions and nominated for a 1976 Grammy Award as the Best Latin Jazz Album.

In the following years, Donelian mastered the Jazz arts in clubs, concerts, festivals and TV appearances with Sonny Rollins (1977-8), Chet Baker (1977 and 1983-5), Billy Harper (1979-83), Paquito D’Rivera (1984-5), Anne-Marie Moss (1979-84) and others.

During this period, Donelian also composed and led his own group, Essence, in New York area venues. Donelian’s 1981 album debut in Japan came with the release of Stargazer (Atlas), a trio LP with Eddie Gomez and Billy Hart. It was praised in Swing Journal for its “wonderful tension” and Donelian’s “uncommon talent as a composer,” though it was not distributed or reviewed elsewhere. In 2025, Stargazer was reissued on Sunnyside (SSC 4039).

In 1984, Donelian embarked on serious composition studies with Harold Seletsky, a master composer in the tradition of Arnold Schoenberg. Several fugues and motets resulted, and these lessons also had a marked influence on Donelian’s Jazz writing.

Over the next six years, Donelian released four critically acclaimed CDs: A Reverie for solo piano, called “A masterpiece” by Swing Jazz Journal (1984); Trio ’87, “One of the great unsung piano recordings of the 80’s” according to Cadence (1987), with Norwegians Carl Morten Iversen and Audun Kleive; and, Secrets, chosen #3 Jazz Album of 1988 (Jazz Hot Critics’ Poll) for its “Epic musicality,” and The Wayfarer, praised as “Downright haunting” by Downbeat (1990), both featuring Dick Oatts, Barry Danielian, Anthony Cox, Bill Stewart and Arto Tunçboyaciyan.

In 1992, Donelian recorded a live quartet performance at the New York nightclub Visiones, with Thomas Chapin, Calvin Hill and Jeff Williams. Donelian had been playing with Chapin since the mid-1980’s. In 2003, after a long label search, Playscape Recordings released Quartet Language, a thrilling set taken from these recordings.

A composer of over 100 works, Donelian received a 2000 Fellowship in Music Composition from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The Grand Ideas recordings (below) were thus made possible. Several of Donelian’s works were published by Advance Music and Sher Music, and recorded by Mongo Santamaria and Rory Stuart.

In addition to performing and composing, Donelian has taught since his teens. Donelian joined the faculty of the New School Jazz Program in 1986 where he curretly teaches, and William Paterson University where he taught from 1993-2017.

With support from four Jazz Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts from 1990 to 1996, Donelian presented the Rhythm Section Plus One master class series in New York. Over 55 Jazz masters, including Dewey Redman, Jim Hall and David Liebman joined Donelian in the program.

Donelian’s first book, Training the Ear Vol. 1, was published by Advance Music in 1992 (English), ATN, Inc. in 2001 (Japanese) and Volontè & Co in 2019 (Italian). The book arose from his academic work and has been called “the most clearly organized and comprehensive package of its type” by the Rutgers Annual Review of Jazz Studies (1994-5). Training the Ear Vol. 2 was published in 2003 by Advance Music (later acquired by Schott) and focuses exclusively on jazz harmony. Donelian’s articles on ear training and chord voicings have appeared in Downbeat and Keyboard.

Proud of his Armenian heritage, Donelian joined the Middle Eastern Jazz fusion group Night Ark, performing during the 1980’s and 90’s in Switzerland, Italy, Israel, Greece, Turkey, Armenia and the USA with Ara DInkjian, Ed Schuller, Marc Johnson and Arto Tunboyaciyan. He appeared on three recordings - Moments (RCA/Novus) in 1987, In Wonderland (Polygram) in 1996 and Petals On Your Path (Universal Records) in 1999.

As arranger and pianist, Donelian collaborated with Armenian vocalist Datevik Hovanesian in performances in France, Armenia and the USA. They made one record together, Listen To My Heart (Sony) from 1996 and produced by George Avakian.

Donelian first traveled to Armenia in 1998 to perform with Night Ark and Hovanesian in the first Yerevan International Jazz Festival, and to teach Jazz at the Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC). With support from a CEC/Artslink grant and the Hovnanian Armenian School (NJ), Donelian launched the Jazz in Armenia Project, an artistic, educational and intercultural initiative. As Visiting Professor of Jazz at YSC, in 1999 and 2000 Donelian led first-ever Jazz master classes and impromptu workshops, gave solo piano concerts and appeared with resident musicians at local venues and in concerts honoring humanitarian efforts in rural areas.

Also in 1998, Donelian recorded a three-CD set of solo piano music, Grand Ideas, representing Donelian's lifetime devotion to the piano, composition and improvisation. In 2000, Sunnyside Records released Volume 1 - Wave (selected standards and popular songs). Volume 2 - Mystic Heights (2002) with Donelian's compositions and Volume 3 - Full Moon Music (2005) featuring his spontaneous improvisations followed.

As a member of Night Ark, Donelian performed in Boston in a mid-1980's concert produced by George Schuller. Later, in 1994, Donelian met David Clark, a professor at Berklee College of Music and co-faculty member at Attila Zoller’s Vermont Jazz Center Summer Jazz Workshop. Over decades, Donelian, Clark and Schuller grew closer, playing regularly starting in 2004. Donelian’s 2005 trio CD release Oasis (Sunnyside) eloquently documents their chemistry.

Donelian was named a 2002 Fulbright Scholar in support of his ongoing work in Armenia. For three months, he taught as Professor of Jazz at the Yerevan State Conservatory, and performed during Jazz Appreciation Month (a State Department-sponsored program hosted by the American embassy) in major venues including Yerevan Philharmonic Hall.

During the Fulbright journey, Donelian also traveled to Russia, Georgia, Romania and France to present performances and master classes at conservatories in St. Petersburg, Tblisi, Iasi, Cluj and Paris. With grants from the US State Department and the Romanian Fulbright Commission, Donelian appeared as a featured solo pianist in the Kannon Jazz and Modern Dance Festival (Russia), the Richard Oshanitzsky Jazz Festival (Romania) and in a command performance for the American Ambassador to Georgia.

Donelian returned to Armenia for six weeks as a 2003 Fulbright Senior Specialist to develop the work begun ealier, again in 2004 under a CEC/Artslink grant, and in 2007 with Bobby Sanabria sponsored by the American Embassy. Donelian has also received Fulbright Senior Specialist Awards to teach in Finland (2004), Switzerland (2005), Sweden (2006), Greece (2009) and Romania (2022).

During his Armenia visits, Donelian took interest in the life and music of the 18th century Armenian troubadour Sayat-Nova. He arranged several of these timeless songs for his Jazz trio with Clark and Schuller and, along with his solo interpretations, recorded a two-disc tome, Songs Of My Ancestors (Sunnyside) relased in 2014. Donelian later published transcriptions of these his recordings in Ancestral Songs (Edition Gruber Music) in 2018.

While teaching at the Manhattan School of Music in 2000, Donelian met Marc Mommaas. He invited Mommaas to join him in a 2002 concert honoring the victims of 9/11. Their musical chemistry led to an acclaimed 2008 album, All Or Nothing At All (Sunnyside), with liner notes by David Liebman. In 2007, Donelian and Mommaas, who teach together, founded the Hudson Jazz Workshop in Hudson, NY, attracting an international following. He later invited Mommaas, Mike Moreno, Dean Johnson and Tyshawn Sorey to record an acclaimed quintet CD, Leapfrog (Sunnyside), released in 2011 and highlighting Donelian's cutting edge compositions.

Donelian founded a new trio with Jay Anderson and Dennis Mackrel, performing extensively in NY venues before and after recording their well-received CD, Fresh Start, released in 2022 (Sunnyside). This album received 4-1/2 stars in Downbeat and features songs by Beirach (his former teacher), Makanda Ken McIntyre (his former teaching colleague), Sophia Bondi and Vatan Rajan Singh (his former students), two standards (one with Donelian singing) - as well as several originals penned during the pandemic. The trio toured in the US southwest in March 2022.

As of this writing (August 2025), Donelian looks forward to the October 2025 reissue of his 1981 album with Eddie Gomez and Billy Hart, Stargazer; and, an entirey new recording completed in 2024 featuring Dominique Eade, Ed Neumeister, Jay Anderson and Dennis Mackrel about which more will be announced in the near future, both on Sunnyside.

Awards

Fulbright Scholar (2002/Armenia); Fulbright Senior Specialist (2003/Armenia, 2004/Finland, 2005/Switzerland, 2006/Sweden, 2009/Greece, 2022/Romania); NEA Jazz Performance Fellow (1983, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996); NJSCA Composition Fellowship (2000); numerous other awards & grants

Gear

Steinway Affiliated Artist