About Artists

Sendi Vartanovi

Violinist
Founder and Artistic Director

Sendi Vartanovi is the Founder and Artistic Director of Light & Bloom, an American concert platform that conceives each performance as a unified artistic work. A Georgian-born violinist of Armenian heritage, she has been praised by Hersfelder Zeitung for her “precision and passion” and for a tone that “lifts emotions to soar like swallows across the sky.”

An international competition laureate, Vartanovi has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Opera America, and the Kimmel Center, and has performed with ensembles including the Georgian Sinfonietta, Tbilisi National Symphony Orchestra, Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Georgian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Tsinandali Festival Orchestra, iPalpiti Artists International, Symphony in C, and Philadelphia Virtuosi.

She has shared the stage with internationally celebrated musicians including Yuja Wang, Lisa Batiashvili, and Mischa Maisky. A recipient of the Georgian Composers’ Union Special Prize and an iPalpiti Artists International laureate, she is recognized for performances that unite cultural identity, expressive depth, and a compelling sense of narrative.

Beyond the stage, Sendi is a contributor to Violinist.com, where she has written about narrative and storytelling through music.

Through Light & Bloom, Vartanovi brings together carefully shaped programs, continuous musical arcs, and cinematic atmosphere to create concerts experienced as complete artistic journeys. Music remains at the center, while every element of the presentation is designed to deepen listening, heighten emotional connection, and transform the concert into a lasting shared experience.

Ani Gigauri

Pianist

Co-Founder

Ani Gigauri is a Georgian pianist whose artistry unites technical brilliance with poetic depth. A graduate of the Tbilisi State Conservatoire and the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, where she studied under Professor Markus Tomas, she has earned international recognition as both soloist and collaborator.

Winner of First Prize at the International Piano Competition in Bursa (Turkey) and Grand Prix at the T. Amirejibi National Young Musicians Competition, Ani has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra of Georgia and the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Symphony Orchestra, performing concertos by Mozart, Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns, and Liszt.

Her international performances have taken her to major European halls including the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), and Tivoli Hall (Copenhagen) as part of the prestigious I, CULTURE Orchestra.

As Co-Founder of Light & Bloom, Ani brings her vision of connecting cultures through sound and storytelling, creating immersive experiences that invite listeners into the emotional and spiritual essence of music.

She also serves on the piano faculty at the Nelly Berman School of Music in Philadelphia as well as Germantown Friends’ School.

Lizi Budagashvili

Visual Artist

Lizi Budagashvili (b. 2000) is an artist born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, currently based in New York City. She earned her MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2025 and her BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2023. She has held solo exhibitions internationally, including Kaleidoscope at Wohlleb Gallery in Vienna and Fireflies at Vernissage Gallery in Tbilisi. Budagashvili is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (2019, 2020).

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

Exploring themes of childhood, memories, and nostalgia, my paintings capture the longing for simpler times by delving into the ephemeral, mirage-like childhood recollections. I draw dreamscapes from memory gaps and create ethereal atmospheres through transparent veils that reflect memories after multiple layers of removal and interpretation.

By abstracting distant and unreliable recollections, I invite viewers to reflect on a comforting yet very haunting nostalgia rooted not in a tangible place, but in imagined homelands built of memory stains and glimpses.

The parallels between motherland, childhood, and an idealized past in my work are deeply influenced by my leaving home in the country of Georgia at the age of seventeen. This exploration of having multiple 'homes' while struggling to belong takes form through stained surfaces, magical folk creatures, and dreamlike realms that blur the line between distant memories and reality, blending home and abroad, past and present, dream and everyday life.

Taisiya Losmakova

Violinist, Guest-Artist

Taisiya Losmakova is a New York–based Belarusian-born violinist whose work moves fluidly between the concert stage and the broader cultural landscape, shaping experiences that unite classical tradition with contemporary expression. She made her debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, appearing alongside Teodore Doré, Sergey Antonov, and Anastasiya Roytman.

As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with Lambert Orkis, Dmitri Berlinsky, Wolfram Koessel, and Gleb Ivanov, and is featured on the album Frozen Reflections by Nina Siniakova.

As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with Lambert Orkis, Dmitri Berlinsky, Wolfram Koessel, and Gleb Ivanov, and is featured on the album Frozen Reflections by Nina Siniakova.

Her performances have taken place at distinguished venues including Lincoln Center, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the Kimmel Center, establishing a presence across leading stages in the United States.

In parallel with her performing career, Taisiya curates and produces chamber music projects in collaboration with Gotham Arts, Groupmuse, East West Artistry, the Soho Salon Series, and the Apollo Society. Extending beyond the concert hall, she develops interdisciplinary collaborations at the intersection of music and fashion. Her partnership with Merust Tolegen at New York Fashion Week 2026 reimagined the runway as a space of dialogue between sound, movement, and design.

She is the co-founder of CLASSIFIED, a chamber music series created in collaboration with Gotham Arts and Stephanie Kim Gallery. Conceived for two violins and piano, the project explores virtuosity, ensemble precision, and a contemporary cultural perspective.

Taisiya Losmakova holds a Master of Music in Performance from Temple University, where she studied under Professor Eduard Schmieder. She also received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Belarusian State Academy of Music (class of Regina Krivel).

Aleksandr Bolotin

Pianist, Guest-Artist

Aleksandr Bolotin (born 2000 in St. Petersburg, Russia) is a pianist currently living and freelancing in New York. He began his piano studies in 2008 and graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory’s special music school and the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Bolotin has performed across Russia, Europe, and the USA, with orchestras like the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra and the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra. He has also collaborated with notable conductors such as Yoram Youngerman, Pavel Lando, and Yuri Serov.

He has participated in prestigious music festivals, including the Mariinsky International Piano Festival (Russia), Chopin’s Festival in Nohant (France), and the Summit Music Festival (USA). He has won multiple prizes at international competitions, including the 1st prize at the 2014 Frederic Chopin Competition in Narva, Estonia, 1st Prize at The Tenth Moscow International Frederic Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, Moscow, Russia; diploma and the special prize "For the best performance of works by Igor Stravinsky" at X International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Astana, Kazakhstan – diploma and the special prize "For the best performance of works by Igor Stravinsky" in 2017.

Notable performances include recitals in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Prague, New York, and Tokyo. Music critic Donald Isler described his playing as having "an enormous imagination" and praised his dramatic expression and self-control.

Sandro Sidamonidze

Cellist, Guest-Artist

Internationally acclaimed as a “cello virtuoso,” Sandro Sidamonidze is celebrated for performances of intensity, architectural clarity, and spiritual depth. His international career spans Europe, the United States, and Asia, with appearances at major concert halls, festivals, and cultural institutions including Merkin Hall in New York, the United Nations, 10 Downing Street, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Newport Music Festival, and Telavi International Music Festival.

An Opus Klassik and German Record Critics’ Award–nominated artist, Sidamonidze is a core member of the Vienna-based Trio Revolution. The ensemble’s debut album, Unconventional Journey, received widespread critical acclaim and nominations for two of Germany’s leading recording honors.

Recent highlights include the U.S. premiere of Vaja Azarashvili’s Cello Concerto at Merkin Hall and his China debut with the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra in Zhao Jiping’s Zhuang Zhou’s Dream. His repertoire ranges from cornerstone works of the cello literature to contemporary music by composers including Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Vaja Azarashvili, Zhao Jiping, and Lowell Liebermann.

Sidamonidze has collaborated with distinguished artists including Natalia Gutman, David Geringas, István Várdai, Nicholas Altstaedt, Giya Kancheli, and Dmitri Berlinsky. He has also served as Principal Cellist of the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Principal Cellist of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Currently based in New York City, Sidamonidze is completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University. He is also the founder of the Cello Beyond Borders concert series and Managing Director of the Manufaktur der Künste Festival in Vienna.

Eliso Babuadze

Cellist/Photographer, Visual Artist

Eliso Babuadze is a classical cellist and orchestra musician based in Finland, whose artistic world exists at the intersection of music, photography, and cinematography. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, she started her music studies playing piano at the age of six and later learning to play a cello. While pursuing her studies, she went abroad and graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 2024 in Helsinki, where she studied classical music performance majoring in cello and now she is a musician based in Finland.

She was particularly drawn to Finland by the artistic freedom and creative space it offered her, as well as by its vibrant international music scene and its openness to contemporary art. The opportunity to encounter and work alongside musicians from different parts of the world, together with the high level of orchestral music in Finland, resonated strongly with her artistic interests and aspirations. For Eliso, music is more than sound — it is a universal language that exists beyond spoken words.

She sees photography and cinematography in much the same way: as forms of expression capable of communicating emotions, memories, and experiences that words sometimes cannot reach. Interest in photography started since her childhood. The fist memory is of her mother, taking a film camera out of the shelf and Eliso trying to grab it everytime she was photographed.

Later, during a lockdown in 2020, when everything seemed frozen in time, she started researching and experimenting with photography in her room with a beginner’s camera she had purchased couple of weeks earlier. The interest grew throughout the time and followed her as she traveled for different music projects and studies. She is particularly fascinated by the emotional power of music in film and the way a soundtrack can shape, deepen, or completely transform the way a story and an image is experienced. She has a special love for experimental music, endless possibilities of sound and how image, film and music are intertwined.

Her passion lies in bringing these artistic languages together, exploring the ways music and visual storytelling can complement one another and create deeper emotional experiences. Eliso is particularly inspired by the idea of inviting people into their own minds and imaginations — giving them space to feel, remember, dream, and discover their own artistic abilities.

While deeply connected to her own artistic space, Eliso is outgoing and deeply values meaningful friendships, strong communities and the feeling of belonging that art can create. She loves to travel, finding inspiration in new places, people, and everyday experiences. She also enjoys reading, composing and biking. Currently, she is looking forward to beginning a new chapter in a new city, while developing upcoming music and photography projects and continuing to explore the creative space where sound and image meet