Eduard Topchjan (; born in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

) is an Armenian conductor, the principal conductor and artistic director of the

Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra The Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra (''ANPO'') (Armenian language, Armenian: Հայաստանի ազգային ֆիլհարմոնիկ նվագախումբ) is the national orchestra of Armenia. It was founded in 1925 as a symphony orchest ...

Biography

Topchjan studied violin at the Yerevan Komitas Conservatory and went on to study conducting with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n conductor Ohan Durian followed by consultations from Sir

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...

and

Nello Santi Nello Santi (22 September 1931 – 6 February 2020) was an Italian conductor. He was associated with the Zürich Opera House for six decades, and was a regular conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He was focused on Italian reper ...

. Topchjan started conducting in 1991 when with a group of his friends from the Yerevan Komitas Conservatory he created the Serenade Chamber Orchestra, later known as the Armenian Chamber Players. The group has performed at over 1000 concerts in Europe, winning prizes at various international competitions and releasing CDs on the

Thorofon Thorofon Schallplatten KG is a classical record label based in Wedemark, Germany. Among the several series of recordings the label has published, there are works and titles such as Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas, the complete works for solo ...

label. Eduard Topchjan made his debut with the

in 2000, when an orchestra composed of the Serenade Chamber Orchestra musicians and a group of leading APO musicians had an appearance at Bad Fussing Festival,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The same year he was appointed as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the APO and started appearances with the APO in

and abroad, interpreting the main symphonic repertoire as well as new compositions. Eduard-Topchyan

In 2001, he appeared with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and in 2003, at the Bolshoi Theater. In autumn 2006 the APO led by Eduard Topchjan participated in the 41st International Music Festival ''Moravian Autumn'' held in Brno, Czech Republic and continued the tour visiting also Prague, Bratislava and Nuremberg (

). In February 2007 the APO with Maestro Topchjan toured France and appeared in Nice, St. Etienne, Lyon, Valence, Drôme, Valence, Marseille, Issy les Moulineaux, which was the culmination of the ''Year of Armenia in France''. In 2008 the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra led by Eduard Topchjan made a very successful tour over Japan with 15 concerts in the best concert halls in Tokyo, Osaka, Niigata, Nagoya, Hamamatsu and many others. Topchjan is especially known for introducing music to both the orchestral and operatic repertoire. He has performed with this orchestra the operas ''Aida'', ''The Barber of Seville''; ''Il tabarro'', ''Madama Butterfly'', ''Turandot'', ''Simone Boccanegra'', ''Rigoletto'', ''Pagliacci'', ''The Queen of Spades (opera), The Queen of Spades'', ''Tosca'', ''La bohème'' and others. Eduard Topchjan has appeared with such artists as Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Renato Bruson, Kim Kashkashian, Alexei Lubimov, Emmanuel Pahud, Bernd Glemser, Tibor Varga (violinist), Tibor Varga, François-Joël Thiollier, Bernard Ringeissen, Zoran Todorovich, Mischa Maisky, Boris Berezovsky (pianist), Boris Berezovsky, Sergey Khachatryan, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Sergei Babayan, Sahan Arzruni, Julia Fischer, Wolfgang Meyer, Sergey Larin, Hasmik Papian, Vladimir Chernov, Sergei Nakariakov, Catherine Manoukian, Placido Domingo, Pinchas Zukerman, Konstantin Lifschitz, François-Frédéric Guy, Vag Papian, Mario Brunello, Kirill Gerstein, Kolya Blacher and many others. As a guest conductor he appeared with many orchestras in Europe, among them the Frankfurt Opera, the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Romanian TV and Radio Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony and POPS, Pasadena Symphony and Kärntner Sinfonieorchester. He was Artistic Director of several festivals. Since 2007 he has been the principal conductor at the Yerevan International Music Festival, which is an annual event and hosts numerous world-known musicians. His vast repertoire includes all epochs from baroque to contemporary music, symphonic works as well as the chamber orchestra repertoire and operas. Several pieces by composers from

and abroad have been written for him and world premiered by him and his orchestras.

Awards

In 2007 the Ministry of Culture of

awarded him with Meritorious Artist, Meritorious Worker of Art title. In 2011 he was awarded a Gold Medal of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. In Autumn 2013 Maestro Topchjan was befitted with knighthood being awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Discography

2011 ''Armenian Rhapsody''- Aram Khachaturian: Concerto-Rhapsody for cello & orchestra, Suren Zakaryan: Monograph, for cello & chamber orchestra, Vache Sharafyan: Suite for cello & orchestra, Komitas:Krounk (the Crane) song. Alexander Chaushian, cello. Conductor: Eduard Topchjan. BIS records 2011 2008 ''Gomidas - songs'' Isabel Bayrakdarian, Serouj Kradjian (arrangements and piano), Chamber players of the

, conducted by Eduard Topchjan. Nonesuch, 2005Booklet includes sung texts in Armenian transliteration and English translation 2007 ''Catherine Manoukian''. Aram Khachaturian: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Dmitry Shostakovich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, in A minor op. 77. Catherine Manoukian, violin.

. Conductor: Eduard Topchjan. Marquis Records

References

External links

Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Eduard Topchjan has been awarded the Italian Order of Merit for Labour
2013-11-20 {{DEFAULTSORT:Topchjan, Eduard Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Armenian conductors (music)