Malikian was born on September 14, 1968 in
Beirut,
Lebanon, to an
Armenian family. His father was a violinist. He started playing the violin at a young age, encouraged by his father, who had performed with established
Lebanese singer
Fairuz, the "Six Sonatas" of
Eugène Ysaÿe, and the "Sonatas and Partitas" of
J.S. Bach. Malikian was the concertmaster of the
Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (resident orchestra of the
Madrid Royal Opera). He played in
Le Boeuf sur le Toit by D. Milhaud, in the version for violin and orchestra, under the direction of Gómez Martínez; and in the "Concerto for Violín and Orchestra in D minor" by
Aram Khachaturian under the baton of Jesús López-Cobos. Since 1995, Malikian has performed as a duo, with the Armenian pianist
Serouj Kradjian. They recorded the complete cycle of Sonatas by Robert Schumann (Hänsler), as well as the record "Miniatures" (Malkrafon), an anthology of music for violin and piano, written by Armenian composers. Malikian has also recorded numerous albums for record companies such as BMG, Auvidis, Trittico Classics and Elite Music, including "
The Four Seasons" of Vivaldi, of which more than 80,000 copies were sold for
UNICEF. Malikian has maintained a close collaboration with José Luis Montón, Lebanese singer Fairuz, flamenco dancers Joaquín Cortés and Belén Maya, the Ensamble Nuevo Tango and jazz pianist Horacio Icasto. He has also worked with film-music composers such as Alberto Iglesias, with whom he recorded the soundtrack for
Hable Con Ella, a movie by Almodóvar, or Pascal Gainge in
Otro Barrio by the director Salvador García Ruiz. Malikian has released two albums, "Manantial" and "De la felicidad", accompanied by flamenco guitarist José Luis Montón. De la felicidad was nominated by the Spanish Academy of Music for best New Music CD of the year. Malikian recorded a double CD of Paganini for Warner Bros. including his "24 Caprices for Violin Solo"; an album of compositions by Sarasate, accompanied by Armenian pianist Serouj Kradjian; the "Six Sonatas" for violin by Ysaÿe; and the "Sonatas and Partitas" by J. S. Bach. Malikian has been nominated twice for best classical performance in the 2007 Music Prizes in Spain by the Spanish Academy for his recording of the Poema Concertante by
Xavier Montsalvatge with the Castilla y León Symphonic Orchestra; as well as for a piece with Joan Valent, Suso Sáiz and Marc Blanes. He participated as a guest artist in the film
J: Beyond Flamenco, by Carlos Saura (2016). ==Private life==