Eduard Topchjan

The outstanding Armenian conductor Eduard Topchjan studied violin at the Yerevan Conservatory and went on to study conducting with a prominent Armenian conductor Ohan Durian followed by valuable consultations from Sir George Solti, Claudio Abbado and Nello Santi.

Topchjan started conducting in 1991 when with a group of his friends from the Yerevan conservatory he created the Serenade Chamber Orchestra. The Serenade at once became the most promising orchestra in Armenia and shortly afterwards it made a fine reputation in Europe winning prizes at various international competitions and releasing highly reputed CDs at several labels. Topchjan toured Europe regularly with the Serenade appearing with more than 700 concerts.

Eduard Topchjan made his debut with the APO in 2000. The same year he is appointed as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the APO and starts successful appearances with the APO in Yerevan and abroad, earning much praise for his interpretations of the main symphonic repertoire as well as new compositions.

Already in 2001, he appeared with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and in 2003, at the “Bolshoi Theater”, receiving both times great acclaim from the audience and musical critics. This was followed by the APO tours in the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, France - with remarkable appearances in Nuremberg, Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and many others.

In 2008 the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra led by Eduard Topchjan made a very successful tour in Japan with 15 concerts in the best concert halls in Tokyo, Osaka, Niigata, Nagoya, Hamamatsu and many others. The highest performing standards set by the orchestra and conductor was highly appreciated in the world media.

Topchjan is especially known for introducing music both to orchestral and operatic repertoire. He has performed the operas “Aida”, “The Barber of Seville”; “Madama Butterfly”, “Turandot”, “Simone Boccanegra”, “Othello”, “Rigoletto”, “I Pagliacci”, “Pique Dame”, “Eugene Onegin”, “Don Giovanni”, “Zauberfloete”, and others. Eduard Topchjan appears with such celebrated artists as Placido Domingo, Pinchas Zukerman, Renato Bruson, Giuseppe Giacomini, Sergei Larin, Vladimir Chernov, Vincenzo La Scola, Raina Kabaivanska, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian, Diemut Poppen, Emmanuel Pahud, Tibor Varga, Radovan Vlatkovic, Sergei Nakariakov, Boris Berezovsky, Sergey Khachatryan, Julia Fischer, Isabelle Faust, Daishin Kashimoto, Sergey Babayan, Konstantin Lifschitz, François-Joël Thiollier, Paul Mayer, Jana Bouskova, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Alexei Lyubimov, Bernd Glemser, Bernard Ringeissen, Anton Sorokow, Francois-Frederic Guy, Vag Papian, Mario Brunello, Kirill Gerstein, Kolya Blacher, Alexander Chaushian and many others.

As a guest conductor Topchjan has appeared with 46 orchestras in Europe, US, and Asia among them the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Cologne, Frankfurt Opera, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Opera Monte-Carlo, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Siena Festival Orchestra and Kärntner Sinfonieorchester.

Topchjan was engaged for 2012-2013 season to appear with Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra (at Musikverein Vienna), Israel National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma and Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.

Topchjan has been the Artistic Director of several significant festivals. Since 2007 he is the principal conductor of the Yerevan International Music Festival, which is an annual event and hosts numerous world-known musicians marking its 7th consecutive season in 2013.

Topchjan's vast repertoire includes all epochs from baroque to contemporary music, symphonic works as well as the chamber orchestra repertoire and operas. Many pieces by composers from Armenia and abroad have been written for him and world premiered by him and his orchestras. His extraordinary talent and conducting style attracted attention of world audiences and gained him highest critical and public acclaim. In 2007 he was granted the title of Meritorious Worker of Arts of Armenia.

In 2011, Topchjan was awarded a Gold Medal of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. In Autumn 2013 Maestro Topchjan was befitted with knighthood being awarded the Italian Order of Merit for Labour.