About this Artist

Armenian conductor Eduard Topchjan has earned widespread praise from critics and audiences alike for his unique interpretations of the core symphonic as well as contemporary repertoire. Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra since 2000, his extraordinary talent, clear conducting style and innate musicality have garnered him public acclaim and attention.

Eduard was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000, following his debut with the orchestra earlier that year. Highlights of his tenure so far include performances at Moscow’s Conservatory’s Great Hall and Bolshoi Theatre, Brucknerhaus Linz, St Petersburg’s Stars of the White Nights Festival, extensive tours of Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Poland, Czech Republic, the USA, and South America, and a performance at Konzerthaus Berlin in November 2018 celebrating the 115th anniversary of the birth of Aram Khachaturian, which was attended by the President of Armenia, Mr Armen Sarkissian.

As a guest conductor Eduard has performed with many of the top orchestras worldwide, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the orchestra of Frankfurt Opera, the Stuttgart, Prague and Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lithuanian National, Jerusalem and Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestras, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, the Orchestra della Toscana, and with the Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein.

In 1991 Eduard founded the Serenade Chamber Orchestra, which quickly built up a fine international reputation, winning prizes at a number of prestigious competitions, touring Europe, and releasing highly acclaimed CDs on a number of labels. Having held Artistic Director positions at several important festivals, Eduard founded the Yerevan International Music Festival together with cellist Alexander Chaushian in 2007, and became one of its Artistic Directors.

His repertoire ranges from the baroque to the modern era, including works for chamber orchestra as well as contemporary works, a number of which have been dedicated to him and the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. On the operatic stage Eduard has conducted Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Verdi’s Aida, Simon Boccanegra, Otello and Rigoletto, Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Tosca and La Bohème, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, to name a few.

Eduard has appeared with celebrated artists such as Plácido Domingo, Pinchas Zukerman, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian, Emmanuel Pahud, Tibor Varga, Sergei Nakariakov, Boris Berezovsky, Sergey Khachatryan, Julia Fischer, Isabelle Faust, Daishin Kashimoto, Sergei Babayan, Konstantin Lifschitz, Narek Hakhnazaryan, François-Frédéric Guy, Kirill Gerstein, Kolja Blacher, Sergei Krylov, Fabio Zanon, Simon Trpčeski, Alexander Chaushian and many others.

By way of background, Eduard studied violin at the Yerevan Conservatory and went on to study conducting with the prominent Armenian conductor Ohan Durian, followed by valuable consultations with Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado and Nello Santi. He was awarded the title of Meritorious Worker of Arts of Armenia in 2007, and in 2011 received a Gold Medal from the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. In 2013 he was granted knighthood with the Italian Order of Merit for Labour (OML), and in 2016 he was honoured with the Medal of Services to the Motherland.