Karl Vardanyan

Karl Vardanyan is a classically trained guitarist with expertise in music education, arranging, music production, and sound design. At 15, he won the solo instrumental performance category at the international music competition “Russian Spring – 2015” in Budapest, Hungary. In 2022, Karl secured first place in the classical guitar category at Loyola Marymount University’s New Music on the Bluff composition competition.

Karl holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Southern California, where he is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree, studying guitar with William Kanengiser and Adam Del Monte, while taking composition lessons with Neal Desby. He has participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned guitarists, such as Pepe Romero, Paul O’Dette, Scott Tennant, Richard Savino, and A.J. Minette. The highlight of Karl’s academic path at USC was winning the highly competitive Edward Hosharian Foundation Music Scholarship in 2024.

Expanding his artistic boundaries, Karl began learning the Armenian tar and founded the ethnoclassical ensemble ‘The Urartians’ in 2023. In this consort of musicians, he performs and arranges music for the duduk, oud, tar, qamancha, dap, and guitar, synthesizing traditional Armenian sounds with classical form and structure. In November 2024, Karl self-produced and released an extended-play record for the ensemble entitled Relics of the Past. While overseeing one ensemble, Karl expands his repertoire, performing solo works and collaborating with chamber groups.