Alumni

From 1938 to 1944, he studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. From 1947 to 1952, he studied orchestral conducting and music theory at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, in the classes of Professors Sarajev and Tigranov. After graduation, he worked as a trainee with the USSR State Orchestra. From 1953 to 1963, he was a conductor at the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre. From 1966 to 1974, and again in 1976, he served as a conductor at the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre. From 1973 to 1974, he was Chief Conductor of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre; from 1964 to 1966, Chief Conductor of the Saratov Opera Theatre; and from 1966 to 1968 and 1992 to 1994, Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Armenian Television and Radio Committee. From 1969, he taught at the Yerevan Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1979. From 1980 to 2000, he served as Chief Conductor of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre.

He studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan and later at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan in the class of Grigor Yeghiazaryan. His creative interests were consistently connected with instrumental music. In the field of symphonic music, his notable works include three invention cycles for symphony orchestra, concert inventions for piano and orchestra, concertos for cello and orchestra, concertos for violin and orchestra, and works for piano and orchestra. In chamber music, his 30 Invention Pieces for orchestral instruments with piano accompaniment, two piano sonatas, the Sonata-Duet for violin and piano, the Sonata for violin and piano, and the Piano Trio have received wide recognition. Hovunts’s compositions are based on a modal-tonal system of his own creation. An important part of Gagik Hovunts’s career was his teaching at the Yerevan State Conservatory, where for nearly fifty years he taught harmony, passing his professional experience and extensive scholarly achievements from one generation to the next.

In 1961, he graduated from the Yerevan Conservatory in the class of Grigor Yeghiazaryan, and in 1964 completed postgraduate studies. From 1957 to 1964, he taught at the Avet Gabrielyan Music School in Yerevan. From 1957, he also taught at the Khachatur Abovyan Pedagogical Institute in Yerevan. From 1973 to 1986, he served as secretary of the Composers’ Union of the Armenian SSR, and from 1974 also as secretary of the USSR Composers’ Union.

His principal works include Symphony (1962), the choral poem Armenia (1963), the ballet Prometheus (1967, libretto by Yevgeny Changay; HLKEM Prize, 1968), Poem About Lenin for voice, choir, and piano (1970), and The Five Hymns of Sahak Partev (1971, arranged for voice and piano), among others. Emin Aristakesyan’s ballet Prometheus was staged not only in Yerevan and other cities of the USSR, but also in Poland.

He studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan and graduated from the Yerevan Conservatory in 1967. From 1961 to 1992, he performed as a soloist with the Aram Merangulyan Folk Instruments Ensemble of the Armenian Television and Radio Committee, and from 1996 served as the ensemble’s Artistic Director. From 1992 to 1996, he was Artistic Director and soloist of the Astgher Ensemble. In 1986, he began teaching at the Yerevan College of Pop and Jazz Art, and from 1990 at the Yerevan Conservatory.

He won First Prize at the Republican Competition for the Best Performers of Sheram’s Songs (1961, Yerevan). Ruben Matevosyan is currently Artistic Director of the Honored Aram Merangulyan Folk Instruments Ensemble.

She began her musical education at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan and later continued at the Romanos Melikyan Music College. From 1963 to 1968, she studied in the piano department of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.

From her student years, she performed with youth pop orchestras, and from 1968 she was a soloist with the Armenian Television and Radio Pop-Symphony Orchestra. Raisa Mkrtchyan became the first performer of many songs by Arno Babajanyan, Konstantin Orbelyan, Robert Amirkhanyan, Alexander Achemyan, Martin Vardazaryan, and other Armenian composers.

More than 400 songs have been recorded in her performances, a significant number of which are preserved in the Golden Fund of Armenian Radio and Television. She has performed in many countries around the world. From 2002, she taught at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. In 2006, she was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Armenia.

From 1952 to 1959, he studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School and later at the Romanos Melikyan Music College. From his second year there, he was admitted to the composition department of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. In 1972, he graduated from the composition class of Ghazaros Saryan.

From 1987, he taught composition at the Yerevan Conservatory, as well as a course he developed entitled “Technology of Contemporary Music.”

In 1994, he was among the founders of the Armenian Musical Assembly public organization.

Composer, Conductor

Konstantin Petrossian was born in Yerevan in 1946. He received his early musical education at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan.

In 1965, he graduated from the Romanos Melikyan Music College, where he studied with Eduard Baghdasaryan. In 1973, he graduated from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, where he studied composition with Grigor Yeghiazaryan.

From 1976 to 1985, Petrossian taught at the Romanos Melikyan Music College. From 1976 to 1980, he served as conductor of the Armenian Radio and Television Pop-Symphony Orchestra, and from 1985 to 1990, he headed the Music Center of the Composers’ Union of Armenia.

From 1990 to 1993, he served as Vice President of the Armenian Peace Foundation. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Armenian Music Assembly, and since 2014, Co-Chair of the International Committee of the Composers’ Union of Armenia.

Konstantin Petrossian is the author of numerous symphonic, choral, chamber, instrumental, and vocal works. He has also composed music for film and theatre.

She received her early musical education in Alaverdi, then continued her studies at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan and the Romanos Melikyan Music College. From 1965 to 1968, she studied at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan in the class of Vache Umr-Shat, and later continued at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in the class of the distinguished pianist and educator Yakov Zak. She graduated from the conservatory in 1971 and completed postgraduate studies in 1973.

Svetlana Navasardyan gained international recognition at a young age, becoming a prizewinner of the Robert Schumann International Competition, the Johann Sebastian Bach International Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and the Sydney International Piano Competition. She has performed on many prestigious stages around the world and collaborated with renowned conductors and musicians.

Since 1974, she has taught at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. She is a People’s Artist of Armenia and has received numerous state awards. Svetlana Navasardyan is one of the most distinguished representatives of Armenian piano performance.

She studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. She later devoted her professional career to piano performance and music education, becoming one of the recognized representatives of the Armenian piano school.

Karine Ohanyan has taught for many years at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, where she headed the Department of Professional Piano and Organ. She is a professor and an Honored Artist of Armenia.

Throughout her teaching career, she has trained many young pianists who later continued their professional activities in Armenia and abroad. Karine Ohanyan regularly serves on professional juries of national and international music competitions.

Atanes Arakelyan was born on October 22, 1955, in Yerevan. He began his musical education in the violin class at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. He continued his studies in choral conducting at the Romanos Melikyan Music College and later at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, specializing in choral and opera-symphonic conducting.

In 1985, he undertook advanced professional training in Moscow under Vladimir Minin, People’s Artist of the USSR and professor.

From 1984 to 1988, Arakelyan served as conductor of the Aram Ter-Hovhannisyan Choir of the Armenian Choral Society. From 1988 to 1996, he worked at the Yerevan State Children’s Musical Theatre, where he conducted and staged a number of children’s opera and ballet productions.

Since 1990, he has taught at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, becoming a professor in 2003. From 1993 to 2008, he headed the Arno Babajanyan Music Pedagogical College.

Since 2005, he has served as a conductor at the Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after Alexander Spendiaryan. Since 2008, he has served as Deputy President of the Armenian Musical Society.

He was born into a family of artists. From an early age, he was closely connected with the world of theatre, often spending time beside his grandfather, Vardan Achemyan, and growing up surrounded by prominent and talented artists.

From 1962 to 1969, he studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School. From 1973 to 1978, he studied at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan in the composition class of Ghazaros Saryan. Among the most notable works he wrote during his student years were Symphonic Poem, a Cycle of Folk Songs, and the Polyphonic Sonata.

A major indication of his artistic growth during his studies was the opera The Death of Kikos, which he presented as his graduation work. In 1981, he completed postgraduate studies at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.

From 1986 to 1988, he taught at the Alexey Hekimyan Music School, and from 1995 to 2003 he worked at the Sayat-Nova Music School as a composition teacher. Since 1987, he has worked at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, where he has taught orchestration and instrumentation, and since 1995, composition as well.

He received his early musical education at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan and later studied in the vocal department of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, in the class of Professor Arshavir Karapetyan. In 1982–1983, he sang at La Scala in Milan. In 1985, he continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Professor Yevgeny Nesterenko. From 1980, he was a soloist with the Yerevan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre and later a soloist with the Alexandrov Ensemble of the Russian Armed Forces. In 1990, he performed at Wigmore Hall in London, which brought him wide recognition. In the early 1990s, he performed in European cities and in Australia, where he received a Special Prize for the role of Mephistopheles in a production of Faust. From 2002 to 2005, he gave solo concerts in numerous cities in the United States, Austria, Canada, Germany, China, and Japan. He also took part in Armenian Culture Days in Saint Petersburg. He was elected Vice President of the International Academy of Sciences for Nature and Society. He has appeared at Covent Garden, Teatro Colón, the opera houses of Los Angeles and Washington, the Metropolitan Opera, the Victoria Opera, the Sydney Opera House, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra Bastille, the Marseille Opera, the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, and major opera and philharmonic stages in Lyon, Astana, and elsewhere.

Choral Conductor, Educator

Tigran Hekekyan received his early musical education at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. He subsequently pursued studies in choral conducting at the Romanos Melikyan Music College, the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, and its postgraduate program.

Throughout his career as a choral conductor, he has founded and directed several choirs, including the prizewinning choir of the Alexander Spendiaryan Music School (1982–1988), the Choir of the Committee of Youth Organizations (1986–1988), and the internationally acclaimed Armenian Radio and Television Chamber Choir (1984–2002), a prizewinner of international competitions.

In 1992, he founded the Little Singers of Armenia choir.

From 2003 to 2024, he served as Director of the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan.

He studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. Among his first piano teachers were Luiza Margaryan and Georgy Sarajev. He later continued his studies at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory under Lev Naumov, Vera Gornostayeva, and Mikhail Pletnev.

Sergei Babayan’s international performing career began in 1989. He won first prizes at the Cleveland, Hamamatsu, and Scottish international piano competitions, quickly establishing himself as one of the recognized pianists of his generation.

He has performed in many prestigious concert halls around the world and collaborated with leading orchestras, conductors, and soloists. He has also been active as an educator; among his students is the internationally renowned pianist Daniil Trifonov. Sergei Babayan is an artist of the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label.

She received her early musical education at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. She then studied at and graduated from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, first as a violinist and later in operatic singing.

A major milestone in her international career was her performance of the title role in Vincenzo Bellini’s opera Norma in Warsaw in 1993, after which she was invited to join the Bonn Opera. In subsequent years, Hasmik Papyan appeared on leading opera stages and in major concert halls around the world, including La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, and others.

Her repertoire gives a prominent place to operatic roles by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Bellini, and other composers. Hasmik Papyan has also consistently presented Armenian music on international stages. In 2004, she was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Armenia.

From 1975 to 1980, he studied at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. He then continued his studies and graduated from the composition and cello departments of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. After graduation, he continued his creative work in the fields of Armenian sacred and folk music. Grigor Arakelyan’s arrangements and compositions are performed in various countries by numerous Armenian ensembles.

In 1993, with the assistance of the noted Armenian instrument maker Martin Yeritsyan, he created a new type of Armenian instrument, the tav kemani, or Armenian viola, distinguished by a unique timbre characteristic of Armenian sacred music. On this instrument, such gems of Armenian medieval music as arrangements of Narekatsi’s songs “Gohar Var” and “Achkn Tsov,” as well as the penitential hymns of Mashtots, have been performed on renowned stages around the world.

He collaborates with orchestras and choirs in various countries as a conductor and soloist, including in the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, the United States, Armenia, France, Poland, and Portugal.

He received his early musical education at the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan. He then studied violin at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan in the class of Professor Viktor Khachatryan. He refined his conducting skills under the guidance of the distinguished Armenian conductor Ohan Duryan and also received professional advice from internationally renowned conductors Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, and Nello Santi.

In 1991, he founded the Serenade Chamber Orchestra, which quickly gained recognition in Armenia and abroad, giving hundreds of concerts in European countries and receiving prizes at international competitions.

In 2000, Eduard Topchyan was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Under his direction, the orchestra has undertaken numerous international tours and appeared at prestigious festivals. As a guest conductor, he has collaborated with many leading symphony orchestras in Europe and other countries. Eduard Topchyan is an Honored Art Worker of Armenia.

Narek Suren Hakhnazaryan was born on October 23, 1988, in Yerevan. He is an Armenian cellist and an Honored Artist of Armenia (2017). He is the son of violinist Suren Hakhnazaryan.

He received his musical education in the cello class of Professor Zareh Sargsyan. In 2006, Narek graduated from the music college affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory and entered the Moscow Conservatory.

He has toured in many countries around the world, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and elsewhere. The Washington Post described him as a “phenomenal cellist.” He is a soloist with the Pasadena Symphony in the United States.

Hakhnazaryan has won a number of competitions, including the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011.