About Arjun Ayyangar
Born in 1998, Arjun Ayyangar began his music studies in fall 2001 with Mr. Antonio Gandia (B.A., Berkley College of Music). Mr. Antonio Gandia recommended that Arjun study under Dr. Ray Landers, a world renowned educator in the Suzuki method. Arjun studied under Dr. Ray Landers for over a decade starting in 2002. Arjun also studied piano lessons with Miles Fusco (B.S., M.S., The Juilliard School Fidelia Studios New York) and James MacInnes in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Arjun has performed with the orchestra at International Music Festival (Suzuki Association of Northern Ohio) from 2003 to 2010. He had master classes with Leon Bates (piano - 2005) and Cameron Carpenter (organ - 2010 ) at the festival. He has also had some Jazz Lessons with Rio Clemente in 2005. He received standing ovation initiated by the legendary opera diva, Licia Albanese, age 92, during a charity benefit concert in 2005.
Arjun performed in the famed Kimmel Center, PA and in the War Memorial Auditorium, NJ during a fundraiser for UNICEF sponsored by Steinway and Sons. As competition winner, the venues he performed at are: Merkin Hall, NYC; German Cultural Center, NYC; Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, NYC; Field Concert Hall at Curtis Institute of Music, Phildelphia; Dicapo Opera Theater, NYC, Bechstein hall, NYC; and Bosendorfer Hall, Austria. He performed during halftime basketball games at Madison Square Gardens, NYC and at Continental Airlines Arena, NJ.
Arjun won in 2009 an international piano composition competition from Golden Key of Vienna.
TV Appearances: Arjun was among the very few and the youngest at age 4, selected to perform twice in a NBC's premiere prime time series show America's Most Talented Kid, after going through nationwide audition process. At age 5, he appeared in Animal Planet's The Most Extreme: Tough Babies episode. At age 6, he appeared on PAX TV's America's Most Talented Kid where he played his original composition Happy Song.
Records/Honors: He was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not (Comic Strip 2008) and holds a certificate from Limca Book of Records (2008, 2009 and 2010) for playing national anthems from memory. Arjun can play anthems of ALL countries on the piano from memory. He has written piano music sheets for ALL anthems of the world. He was inducted into The Kids Hall of Fame at age 6. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for Empower The Children - a USA registered charity organization that supports educational and food programs for slum-dwelling and disabled children in Calcutta, India. He has been a Volunteer NASA Solar System Ambassador since 2018.
Philanthropy/Volunteer: Gross proceeds from Arjun's performances will be contributed to charity. Please see Events Section for details. Arjun has volunteered his music at Atlanticare Regional Medical Center in Pomona, NJ as a part of the hospital's Creative Arts Healing Program and at Hospice of the Hills in Rapid City, South Dakota. Arjun has pledged to contribute annually US $2 to Empower the Children (http://www.empower-children.org) for every subscriber to his YouTube channel. Please subscribe to his channel:
