Eduard Topchjan

Armenian conductor Eduard Topchjan studied violin at the Yerevan Conservatory and went on to study conducting with the prominent Armenian conductor Ohan Durian, followed by valuable consultations from Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado and Nello Santi.
Topchjan started conducting in 1991 the Serenade Chamber Orchestra was established and afterwards it builds up a fine reputation in Europe, winning prizes at international competitions and releasing highly regarded CDs with several labels appearing in more than 700 concerts in Europe.
In 2000 he was appointed the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra and began successful appearances earning much praise for his interpretations of the main symphonic repertoire.
Topchjan is known for appearing with orchestral and operatic repertoire. He has conducted the operas Aida, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Simon Boccanegra, Otello, Rigoletto, I Pagliacci, Pique Dame, Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Tosca and others.
Eduard Topchjan appeared with such celebrated artists as Placido Domingo, Pinchas Zukerman, Renato Bruson, Giuseppe Giacomini, Sergei Larin, Vladimir Chernov, Raina Kabaivanska, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian, Emmanuel Pahud, Tibor Varga, Radovan Vlatković, Sergei Nakariakov, Sergey Khachatryan, Julia Fischer, Isabelle Faust, Sergei Babayan, Konstantin Lifschitz, François-Joël Thiollier, Jana Boušková, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Alexei Lubimov, Bernard Ringeissen, Anton Sorokow, Mario Brunello, Kirill Gerstein, Sergei Krylov, Simon Trpčeski, Joshua Bell, Augustin Hadelich.
He performed with important orchestras in Europe, the USA and Asia, among them the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Cologne, the Frankfurt Opera, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Siena Festival Orchestra, the Kärntner Sinfonieorchester, the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. 
In 2007 he was granted the title of Meritorious Worker of Arts of Armenia. In 2011 he was awarded a Gold Medal of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. In 2013, Maestro Topchjan was granted knighthood with the Italian Order of Merit for Labour (OML).
During his tenure the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrating its 90th consecutive season received the status of the National orchestra.