French Armenian conductor George Pehlivanian in Yerevan for a concert dedicated to Genocide centennial
World-known French Armenian conductor and violinist George Pehlivanian will give a concert in Yerevan in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The concert scheduled for April 18 will feature the “Mirzoyan Quartet” and the children’s choirs of the AYB and the French International School.
The program includes works by Komitas, Ravel, Alexander Harutyunyan and others.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, into a musical family f Armenian origin, Pehlivanian studied violin and piano from an early age. He emigrated to Los Angeles in 1975, and worked as a violinist before studying conducting with Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel, and Ferdinand Leitner. Pehlivanian also attended the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy.
In 1991 he became the first American to win the Grand Prize in the history of the Besançon International Conductors’ Competition in France. From 2005 until 2008 he was the first foreign Chief Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 2007 he became Principal Guest Conductor at the Opera Theatre of Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. He remained Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz from 2002 – 2012. He also held guest conducting positions with the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He enjoys a long-standing relationship with the Spanish National Orchestra since 1996, and recorded works by Rodrigo with the orchestra.
