Saro Babikian was born in Damascus, Syria, in 1995. He started playing the classical guitar at age 10. He attended the Solhi Al-Wadi Conservatory of Music in Damascus. In 2012 he performed at the Damascus Opera House in a concert hosted by the Ministry of Culture for outstanding students of the conservatory. Later that same year he moved to Los Angeles and continued his guitar studies with the renowned Armenian guitarist Sarkis Turgutyan. In 2015 he was admitted to the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music’s classical guitar program under the instruction of Scott Tennant and William Kanengiser. Saro also takes flamenco lessons with Adam Del Monte at USC. He graduated with honors with his Bachelor of Music degree in classical guitar in 2018 and has been awarded a scholarship from USC Thornton to continue his naster’s studies in classical guitar performance.
Saro has participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned musicians and guitarists such as David Russell, Pepe Romero, and Paul O’Dette. He has earned several awards in various guitar competitions including Honorable Mention at the Gohar and Ovanes Andriassian Classical Guitar Competition, and First Prize at an international music competition in Serbia. In 2017, Saro was invited as a guest artist to the 3rd Yerevan International Guitar Festival, in Yerevan, Armenia. He has composed several pieces for the guitar, including Tremolo for classical guitar, and has completed arrangements of a set of Armenian folk songs by Gomidas for guitar and voice. Saro is regularly invited to Armenia to hold guitar classes and to play concerts.