Farkhad Khudyev

Originally from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Farkhad Khudyev first studied violin and composition with Zinaida Ahmedzhanova and Vera Abaeva at the Special Music School for the most gifted musicians in the country. He distinguished himself at the age of 10 as the youngest performer ever selected to play with the National Violin Ensemble of Turkmenistan directed by Harold Neimark, and at 12 he won a scholarship to attend the New Names Festival in Suzdal, Russia, which was sponsored by the Moscow Conservatory. He was named as one of the most promising young musicians at the festival. Mr. Khudyev has performed in Ashgabat, Suzdal, Moscow and Odessa (Ukraine), as both a soloist and as a member of the Violin Ensemble of Turkmenistan.

Mr. Khudyev came to the United States in 2001 on a full scholarship from the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with Paul Sonner, Michael Albaugh and Yoshikazu Nagai, then completed his Bachelor of Music degree on a full scholarship at the Oberlin Conservatory studying with Milan Vitek and Bridget Reischl. He received his Master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Yale School of Music where he studied with Shinik Hahm. Mr. Khudyev is the winner of the coveted Grand Prize and the Gold Medal of the 2007 National Fischoff Chamber Music Competition as the member of Prima Trio. He has toured the United States and Europe receiving highly acclaimed reviews as both a violinist and composer. He is a recipient of an honorable mention for the 2004 ASCAP Foundation, held in May 2004 at Lincoln Center in New York, for his symphonic work Turkmenistan. In June 2006, he won a prize at the 30th Annual Glenn Miller Competition, held in Clarinda, Iowa, the legendary musician’s birthplace. His other awards include the Neil Rabaut Prize, Yale Chamber Music Society Competition Winner, and a debut performance of his trio Fleeting Miniatures at the Tribeca New Music Festival in New York.

Mr. Khudyev has served as the Music Director of the New Haven Chamber Orchestra and of the Saybrook Orchestra at Yale University, the Assistant Conductor of the Yale Philharmonia, the New Music New Haven ensemble and the NOYO Orchestra, as well as a guest conductor of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Khudyev was a finalist for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor positions as well as the finalist for Music Director of the New Jersey Youth Symphony Orchestra, semifinalist for Music Director of the American Philharmonic positions and the Alternate Conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Conductor position. Recently, Mr. Khuydev was invited to be one of ten semi-finalists from around the world to participate at the First International Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition and Apprenticeship with Riccardo Muti. Currently, Mr. Khudyev serves as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra and the Principal Guest Conductor of the National Orchestra of Ashgabat.