(b. 20 May 1946, Baku).

Armenian composer, born in Azerbaijan, of mostly orchestral, chamber and piano works that have been performed in Asia and Europe.

Prof. Kokzhayev studied composition with Jovdat Hajiyev at the Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası – Academy of Music in Baku, where he graduated in 1971. He later studied composition and orchestral techniques with Yuri Fortunatov from 1977–82.

Among his honours is First Prize in the competition Aram Khachaturian in Yerevan (1993, for Concerto [cello]). Portrait concerts have been given in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Lithuania.

He is also active in other positions. He has served on the administrative board of the Armenian Composers Union in Yerevan since 1994. As a researcher, his areas of specialty are the adequacy of compositional devices, artistic sense and the problems of musical space, on which he has written many articles.

He has taught counterpoint and harmony at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan since 1989, where he was a senior lecturer from 1994–97 and where he has been a professor since 1997. He has served as chair of its department of music theory since 1989 and of its department of composition since 1999.

He has lived in Armenia since 1988.

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

ORCHESTRAL:

Symphony No. 1, large orchestra, 1970

Concerto No. 1, violin, orchestra, 1970

Symphony No. 2, small orchestra, 1974

Solaris (symphonic poem), large orchestra, 1977

Concerto No. 2, 'The Master and Margarita', violin, orchestra, 1980

Symphony No. 3, large orchestra, 1982

Concerto, 2 pianos, large orchestra, 1983

Symphony No. 4, 'Music with Bell', small orchestra, 1987

Artsakhian Laces Suite, small orchestra, 1989

Symphony No. 5, large orchestra, 1989

To the Temple, small orchestra (13 players), 1990

Day of Memory, 2 flutes, alto flute, tubular bells, string orchestra, 1990

To the Martyrs, string orchestra, 1991

Concerto (in memoriam Aram Khachaturian), cello, small orchestra, 1993

Garden of Stones (in memoriam Avet Terterian), 2 flutes, string orchestra, 1996

Moonlighting Blues, string orchestra, 1996

Before Babel and after it (symphonic poem), large orchestra, 1997

Concerto No. 3, 'Dialog mit Johannes', violin, orchestra, 1998

Symphony No. 6, 'Mirabilia expectans', cello, small orchestra, 1998

Mirabilia expectans (concertino, in memoriam Sergei Prokofiev), violin, large orchestra, 1999

Grimaces of Fortune (symphonic poem), large orchestra, 2000

Symphony of Sadness (texts by Khachatur Khachaturian, Gregory of Narek), mixed chorus, large orchestra, 2001

CHAMBER MUSIC:

String Quartet No. 1, 1973

String Quartet No. 2, 1978

Sonata, violin, piano, 1982

Landscape, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1984

Sonata-Ricercare, viola, organ, 1985

Three Pictures of Dalí (sonata), cello, piano, 1994

String Quartet No. 3, 'Unceasing Bell' (in memoriam Komitas), 1995

The First Ball of Cinderella, violin, piano, 1999

Toccata, cello, 2001

Aeolian Harp (variations without themes), 2 flutes, alto flute, harp, cello, celesta, 2001

Watching the Way of a Double Star, violin, cello, fixed media, 2001

Persistence of Memory, violin, cello, piano, 2002

CHORAL:

The Way to the Temple (cantata, text by Gregory of Narek), baritone, speaker, mixed chorus, large orchestra, 2001

VOCAL:

Insomnia (text by William Shakespeare), baritone, small orchestra, 2001

PIANO:

Poem, 1975

Chamber Sonata, 1977

Romantic Music, 2 pianos, 1980

Chekhov's Characters, 2 pianos, 1983

Toccata, 'Christmas Bells', 2001

ORGAN:

In Six Verses (sonata), 1979

JAZZ COMPOSITIONS:

Dandelion Wine, jazz orchestra, 1973

Sunny City, jazz orchestra, 1978

Smile of Karmella, violin, cello, piano, 2001 (also version for double bass, piano, drum kit, 2001)