Eduard Topchjan studied the violin at the Yerevan Conservatory and went on to study conducting with Ohan Durian, followed by valuable consultations with Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado and Nello Santi. He made his début with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000, the same year that he was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the orchestra. With the ANPO, Topchjan has toured across Europe as well as in the USA, Mexico, Japan and China. His wide-ranging repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary music; symphonic works as well music for smaller forces and opera. He has given the premières of a number of works by composers from Armenia and elsewhere. Eduard Topchjan has collaborated with celebrated artists including Placido Domingo, Pinchas Zukerman, Steven Isserlis, Yuri Bashmet, Julia Fischer, Kirill Gerstein and Joshua Bell. As a guest conductor he has appeared with leading orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2007 Eduard Topchjan has been an artistic director (together with Alexander Chaushian) of the annual Yerevan International Music Festival.
