NEW YORK, NY — APRIL 2026

On the evening of Thursday, April 2, 2026, Salon Aux Chandelles made history at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall — not with a debut, but with an arrival. Sixteen sold-out concerts into its first year of existence, the immigrant-artist-led New York City nonprofit presented its Season Finale to a full house of distinguished guests, bringing together two United States premieres, a landmark program spanning five centuries and as many continents, and the kind of evening that stays with an audience long after the last note has faded.

Founded by award-winning Siberian-born violist Alexandra Andreeva and Armenian virtuoso violinist Vartan Mailiantz — husband and wife, alumni of the Moscow State Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and Mannes School of Music — Salon Aux Chandelles completed its debut season as one of New York City’s most celebrated new cultural voices. Columbia Spectator, Times Square Chronicles, and audiences across the city took notice.

A Night the Room Will Not Forget

The Season Finale opened with Rachmaninoff’s Весенние Воды (Spring Waters), Op. 14 — a fitting tribute on the eve of the composer’s 153rd birthday — and carried its audience through an extraordinary two hours of music that touched five countries, two world premieres, and the full emotional range of what live performance can offer.

The first half brought the United States premiere of “Jeg Får Aldrig Lov Til At Stole På Dig” from the opera Dronning Annabell (2025) by Amanda Drew & Faun Vium — a Gen Z Danish operatic voice heard for the first time on American soil — alongside Rebecca Clarke’s Duo Concertante for violin & viola with piano, a work of wartime exile and longing brought to luminous life by Andreeva and Mailiantz. The second half rose to orchestral scale with the United States premiere of Alfred Schnittke / Yuri Tkanov’s Chamber Symphony for viola & chamber orchestra, performed by Alexandra Andreeva with the Westside Chamber Playersunder conductor Julius Akira Mauldin.

The evening concluded with Leonard Bernstein’s “America” from West Side Story — a declaration, not a finale. For Andreeva and Mailiantz, both immigrants who once played beneath Carnegie Hall for a living, the moment carried the full weight of everything Salon Aux Chandelles was built to say.

The Season Finale marked Salon Aux Chandelles’ debut as a platform where music and fashion converge at the highest level. Alexandra Andreevatook the Carnegie Hall stage in two bespoke couture gowns by New York designer Alex Teih — each a visual declaration as bold as the music itself. Vartan Mailiantz performed in a suit by distinguished American menswear house Ike Behar. Together, the collaboration announced something the classical world rarely sees: a concert conceived as a total aesthetic experience, where what is worn is as intentional as what is played.

From the Subway Platform
to Carnegie Hall.

Vartan Mailiantz and Alexandra Andreevafirst met in Moscow in 2016, reconnecting later that year after sitting together on a flight while on tour with the Moscow State Conservatory. They arrived in New York with three bags, three instruments, and one plan. They played beneath Carnegie Hall on the subway platform for a living. They founded Salon Aux Chandelles in 2024. One year later, they performed at Carnegie Hall with their own organization, before a sold-out house, covered by the Columbia University press.

In its debut year, the organization produced 16 concerts — all sold out — drew 200–250 guests per event, secured $50,000+ in philanthropic funding, formed partnerships with Tishman Speyer, Google, NYFW, and the Parsons Benefit, and established itself as what Times Square Chronicles called the city’s most compelling new cultural voice.

ABOUT SALON AUX CHANDELLES

Salon Aux Chandelles is a New York City-based, immigrant-artist-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization dedicated to championing women composers and performers, and to fostering genuine human connection through classical and contemporary music. Founded and directed by award-winning string players Alexandra Andreeva and Vartan Mailiantz, the organization completed its debut season with 16 sold-out concerts, $50,000+ in philanthropic funding, and a Carnegie Hall Season Finale covered by the Columbia University press. Season Two is forthcoming.

DANIEL QUINTANILLA