(December 10, 2009) — What does it take to be a professional? Passion, a burning desire, diligence, and sacrifice are all qualities of a pro. At first glance, junior Varuzhan Kadoyan looks like an average high school student. But outside of the classroom, Kadoyan is a professional pianist. Even some of his closest friends aren’t aware that he is an accomplished pianist. “He never talks about it,” said junior Emmanuel Akopyan. As a child growing up in Armenia, Kadoyan always hovered around the piano whenever his dad played. Intrigued by the piano’s sound, Kadoyan liked hitting the keys. To get a better grip of all 88 keys, Kadoyan would often switch the piano bench that his father used with a chair of his own. Even though Kadoyan was introduced to the piano early on, Kadoyan never had a lesson until the age of eight. “My dad never forced me to play piano,” Kadoyan said. “I decided to play the piano on my own.” After seeing her son constantly strike the keys, Kadoyan’s mom encouraged him to take piano lessons. Tatiana Arustamova, a friend of his dad’s music teacher, would become Kadoyan’s first teacher. With instructions from Arustamova, a piano and sheet music at home, in addition to support from his parents, Kadoyan quickly became fascinated with flying his fingers across the piano. Instead of practicing an hour a day as instructed by Arustamova, Kadoyan had the urge to play his pieces for two to three hours. “I would practice more than my teacher would tell me to because I wanted to perfect what I learned,” he said. Kadoyan’s lessons with Arustamova would provide solid building blocks for the rest of his career. “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be at this level.” A few months of constant practice every day and a lesson a week with Arustamova, helped set the tone for Kadoyan’s first recital. Even though it would be his first perfomance in front of an audience at age 8, Kadoyan didn’t feel anxious at all. “I wasn’t nervous, instead I was curious to see how well I would do,” he said. Kadoyan recalls that the audience enjoyed his performance and gave him a huge round of applause. Kadoyan’s first performance impressed both Arustamova and Kadoyan’s dad. They both believed that Kadoyan was a gifted and skilled piano player who had a lot of potential. The only way Kadoyan would get better would be by entering piano competitions. Kadoyan became eager to do well in these competitions, pushing himself to practice even more. Every day after he came back from school, Kadoyan would spend his time “exploring the piano,” playing a single song for hours, to know it like the back of his hand. “I enjoy playing piano because it makes me calm and allows me to express myself,” Kadoyan said. For Kadoyan, playing the piano for several hours is like a piece of pie. Kadoyan’s first competition was in Armenia in honor of comoposer Emin Khachaturian. Kadoyan won the opportunity to compete against older pianists and gained an uncharted experience. At the age of nine, just one year after his first lesson, Kadoyan decided to become a professional. In his third competition, Kadoyan went up against older pianists whose ages went up to seventeen. This time the other competitors flocked in from all over the world. At the age of ten, Kadoyan was the youngest competitor. As an unknown and undiscovered pianist, winning would give Kadoyan the emerging presence he needed. Despite being the underdog, Kadoyan managed to edge out the other competitors for a key win. “Ever since I was a kid, I modeled my playing after the famous Armenian composer and pianist Arno Babajanian.” With the drive to establish his legacy, Kadoyan decided to switch teachers. After a two year run with Arustamova, Kadoyan moved from Armenia to California to be aquainted with his master teacher. His dad’s friend had recommended Lucine Ketenjian, an accomplished pianist and teacher who had gone to Julliard. “I felt blessed to have a top teacher, but I also felt sad that I was leaving my old teacher.” Paired with an elite teacher, Kadoyan began to enter more competitions that included some of the top students around the world. One of the most memorable competitions for Kadoyan was playing in the Armenian Opera House. “I got to play with a symphony orchestra. What made it even better was that I was performing in a place that I always dreamed of playing in.” With each successive competition Kadoyan’s confidence and skills surged. Ketenjian also gave pointers to Kadoyan, with the expectation that he would work hard to fix his mistakes. “Lucine helped me sharpen my foundation. Once a week I have a lesson with her, and the rest of the week I practiced on my own at home.” When Kadoyan is given a choice to play anything he wants, he usually chooses Bach, Lizst or Chopin. His favorite all-time piece is the “2nd Hungarian Rhapsody” by Lizst. Recently Kadoyan was among 30 performers at a concert on the UCLA campus. He hopes to one day get into UCLA on a piano scholarship. Despite the fact that Kadoyan’s future shines bright on the piano, he doesn’t want to play as an adult. “I want to use piano to help me get into a good college, so that I can get a degree in another area. It is hard being a pianist full time because there aren’t enough opportunities available.”