Karen Durgarian

Karen Durgarian graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatoire in 1996. In 1997, he studied with Ilia Musin at the St Petersburg State Conservatoire. In 1995, he was appointed as the Associate Conductor of the Armenian State Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1996, he became the Musical Director of the Britten and Armenia International Musical Festival in Yerevan. Karen Durgarian regularly performs at the best opera houses of Russia. From 2001 till 2015, he was the Principal Conductor of the Armenian National State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Since 2008, he has regularly conducted at the Mikhailovsky Theatre and since 2015, at the Novosibirsk Opera (NOVAT). He appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre, conducting the new production of Spartacus, at the opening of the Mariinsky-2 and anniversary of Valery Gergiev. Nowadays, he is the Musical Director of the annual Alexander Arutunian International Wind Festival. Karen Durgarian has conducted ballet productions of the Leipzig Opera, Lyon Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and Royal Ballet of Wallonia. He appeared at the Cagliari Lyric Theatre, Turin Royal Theatre, Carlo Felice Theatre in Genova, Verdi Theatre in Sassari and Toradze Piano Studio at the Ravenna Festival. He performed with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Luigi Cherubini Orchestra, Sicilian Symphony Orchestra in Palermo and I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra in Milan. Since 2000, Karen Durgarian has conducted major performances of the Lebanese diva Fairuz at numerous festivals and concert halls. The CD Fairuz Live at the Beiteddine 2000 produced by Ziad Rahbani with EMI received international acclaim. Karen Durgarian recent engagements include conducting Prokofiev’s music with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, two galas featuring Armenian ballet stars with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (2018), debut at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples with The Nutcracker (2018), and a concert in the framework of the KlaraFestival with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (2019).