Kristina Arakelyan is an Armenian-British composer and pianist whose music is celebrated for its luminous lyricism, emotional honesty, and distinctive sense of colour. Writing across choral, orchestral, chamber, and solo repertoire, her work has been performed at leading international venues including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Symphony Hall.

 

Her music has attracted growing critical attention, with BBC Music Magazine naming her a “rising star” and her debut BBC Proms composition described as 'captivating and emotional'. Rooted in a personal synthesis of Armenian folk and sacred traditions and Western classical forms, her musical language is both immediate and nuanced—combining clarity of expression with depth of feeling. As she has observed, 'the voice is the original instrument' a belief reflected in her affinity for choral writing and her sensitivity to line and text.

 

Highlights include A Christmas Offering for Britten Pears Arts, an organ concertino Toccata for Anna Lapwood commissioned by the Royal Albert Hall, and a piano concerto which she premiered as soloist with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. Her debut solo album Dreamland, released on Apple Music’s Platoon label, presents a deeply personal programme of her piano works, and has had 3 million streams on Apple Music. Recent highlights include Kristina's new song cycle Hymn to the Muses, premiere by the Huddersfield Choral Society, Dame Sarah Connolly and The Royal Northern Sinfonia.

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Born in Budapest in 1994 and raised in Armenia, Arakelyan’s early musical life was shaped by a fascination with the sound the voice. She moved to the UK to study at the Purcell School, before continuing her training at the Royal Academy of Music and the University of Oxford. She later completed a PhD in composition at King’s College London. At the age of fifteen, she first came to national prominence as winner of the BBC Young Composers’ Competition.

 

Her works include To the Stars, Seascapes, Star Fantasy, and the chamber opera Penelope: Seven Ways to Wait, each reflecting a distinctive voice that balances structural elegance with expressive immediacy. Alongside her composing and performing career, she is a committed educator, teaching at the Junior Royal Academy of Music and the University of Surrey, and writing music for performers at all stages.

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At the heart of her work lies a clear artistic aim: to create music that communicates directly and deeply—music that speaks, with sincerity and clarity, to the human experience. 

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Looking to programme music by Kristina? Find links to purchase her compositions (including perusal scores and recordings where available) via the Catalogue.