(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)