Yessayi Sakayan

Yessayi Sakayan has been awarded the Degree of Master of Music in Classical Guitar Performance (MMus performance)  from London College of Music, University of West London, in October 2020. Yessayi started his music career when he was in his mid-twenties, distinguishing from most classically trained musicians. Yessayi was 25 years old, and during his last year of studying bachelor’s in computer science, he bought his first classical guitar. From then on, playing the guitar became part of his daily routine. Yessayi didn’t have any musical education before March 2010, when he began learning how to play the guitar using videos and book tutorials on the web for eight months, after which he enrolled in a classical guitar course. Even though he achieved a university degree: BS in computer science, including employment in his field of study, he decided that it was time to change his career to music. Yessayi studied classical guitar at Parsekh Ganatchian Hamazkayin Arts School, Lebanon, from 2010 to 2014. In 2014 he got accepted into the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in classical guitar performance in July 2019.

Yessayi’s musical career revolved around various solo performances, including duets with his tutor and performing with several ensembles: Hamazkayin guitar ensemble, Davigh orchestra and Notre Dame University (Lebanon) guitar ensemble. His classical guitar repertoire includes a variety of compositions from the renaissance to the modern era pieces. Yessayi also devoted his time to teaching students at various music schools across capital Beirut.

Yessayi achieved first place in the categories of over 23s and ensembles (with Hamazkayin classical guitar ensemble) in the classical guitar competition at Gyumri Renaissance Festival, Armenia, in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He also was the winner of the yearly concerto competition at the University of West London on October 28, 2019.