Alisa R. Gukasian 

   

                      Biography 

 

Alisa Roberta Gukasian is a Los Angeles–based classical violinist, educator, and researcher active in solo and chamber music performance. Alongside the established classical repertoire, she is passionate about exploring and championing lesser-performed works, particularly music by Armenian and contemporary composers.

Gukasian is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance at UCLA, where she studies with Varty Manouelian and Lyndon Johnston Taylor as a Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellow. Her research connects violin pedagogy with performance psychology, exploring flow, the experience of being observed, and preparation for the stage. An Armenian Music Program Fellow, she also studies kamancha, deepening her engagement with Armenian musical traditions.

​

Her recent training includes study with Fabiola Kim at Sounding Point Academy and masterclasses with James Ehnes, Amy Schwartz-Moretti, Kyung Sun Lee, and Martin Beaver. She holds a Master of Music from UCLA and bachelor’s degrees in music and history, with honors, from California State University, Northridge. Her teachers have also included Joe Ketendjian, Lorenz Gamma, Patricia Kopec, and Movses Pogossian.

Alongside her performing and research activities, Gukasian maintains a private violin and viola studio in Glendale and serves as the EMMI and K–12 Instrumental Assistant at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences. She has coached at the Colburn Chamber Music Intensive and served as a teaching assistant for UCLA’s The Art of Listening.