Karen Durgaryan

Conductor

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Karen Durgaryan is graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatory in 1996 and has studied with Prof. Mousin at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1997. In 1995 he was appointed an Associate Conductor of the Armenian State Philharmonic Orchestra and the following year has been the Music Director of «Britten and Armenia» International Music Festival in Yerevan. Since 1997 he has been the music director and conductor of the Yerevan State Music Chamber Theater where he realized performances of Britten’s Golden Vanity, Orff’s Bernauer’s Daughter and Adjemian’s Kikos. In 1997 he performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, Great Britain, to the highest public acclaim.

In March 2001, Mr. Durgaryan assumed position of the Principal Conductor of the Armenian National State Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 2001-2002 he made productions of the operas Carmen by Bizet and Norma by Bellini presented also at the Bolshoi Theater New Stage, Moscow in January 2003.

Since then he has frequently conducted in Italy the Symphony Orchestra of the Teatro Lirico, Cagliari, the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio, Turin, the Orchestra of the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova (with the renowned cellist Enrico Dindo as soloist) a new production of Evgeni Onegin by P.I.Tchaikovsky at the Teatro Verdi, Sassari in addition to concerts with the Luigi Cherubini Orchestra (Artistic Director – Riccardo Muti) and the Toradze Piano Studio’s soloists, including its internationally famous leader Alexander Toradze for the Ravenna Festival. He has recently collaborated with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo presenting among other works, the Symphony nr. 2 concertante for duduk and orchestra by Armenian composer Vache Sharafyan and will make his debut with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto in May 2012.

In Portugal he has conducted the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra and the Sao Carlos National Opera Company Choir in Lisbon. In Russia he has inaugurated the Musical Olympus Festival in 2006 with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Since 2000 he conducts major performances of Lebanese diva Fairuz, the greatest singer of Arabic world. Under his baton Fairuz accompanied by international symphony orchestra and choir has performed at the Beiteddine Festival’s three editions (2000, 2001, 2003). The CD «Fairuz Live at the Beiteddine 2000» produced by Ziad Rahbani with the EMI gets the highest international acclaim. The Beiteddine concerts were followed by performances with Fairuz in the UAE (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006); Kuwait (2001); Basel (Switzerland, 2001); Paris (France, 2002); Mohegan Sun, Los Angeles, Detroit (USA, 2003); Doha (Qatar, 2003), Amman (Jordan, 2004); Montreal (Canada, 2005), Athens (Greece, 2007), Bahrain (2008). In 2008 maestro appeared with Ziad Rahbani accompanied by international symphony orchestra and choir in Syria with five concerts within the frames of the Damascus Festival of Arab Cultural Capital 2008.

In the spring of 2008 Karen Durgaryan made his debut at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St.Petersburg where he has conducted the productions of Evgeni Onegin by Tchaikovsky, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and the new production of Spartacus Ballet by Aram Khachaturyan, including performances at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and at the London Coliseum. Between October 2008 and February 2009 he has conducted numerous performances and concerts with the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Italy (Teatro La Fenice, Venice) and in Japan.

In May 2010 Karen Durgaryan has premiered Spartacus Ballet with the Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (produced by Yuri Grigorovich) in Yerevan and Damascus, Syria. In December 2010 the new production of Aida by Verdi became one of the most important cultural events in Armenia. In 2010 he has appeared at the podium of the Kazan State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Since July 2010 Karen Durgaryan has started collaboration with the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg: by the invitation of maestro Valery Gergiev he has conducted three performances of Spartacus Ballet. On 15 September 2010 Karen has conducted the Mariinsky’s 2010-2011 season opening performance to be followed by other performances in St. Petersburg, Moscow and abroad. The year of 2011 maestro has started with performances in Italy and St. Petersburg. Since 2008 Karen Durgaryan has the title of Honored Artist of Republic of Armenia, in 2010 is awarded with highest medal of Armenia in field of art and culture.

In December 2016, Karen Durgaryan gave his debut with the Bayerisches Staatsballett conducting Spartacus.

(Information as of January 2019)