Tigran Hekekyan
| Tigran Hekekyan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
17 August 1959 Yerevan, Armenia. |
| Occupation | Choral Conductor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
Tigran Hekekyan (Armenian: Տիգրան Հեքեքյան; born 17 August,1959) is an Armenian professor of music at Yerevan State Conservatory and a conductor. He is the founder, artistic director, and principal conductor of the Little Singers of Armenia choir. He is also Founder and President of the Armenian Little Singers International Association. He has been a professor of conducting in Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory since 1985, as well as the Headmaster of the Sayat Nova School of Music.
Biography
A graduate of Sayat-Nova School of Music and Romanos Melikian Music College in Yerevan, he completed his post-graduate studies in conducting at the Komitas State Conservatory, where he continues to teach since 1985. He is also the Headmaster of the Sayat-Nova School of Music. During thirty years of creative activity Mr. Hekekyan has established and worked with a number of choirs, including the winner of national and international competitions, notably the Children’s Choir at Alexander Spendiarian School of Music (1982-1988), the female choir at the Committee of Youth Organization(1986-1988), the Armenian Radio and TV Chamber Choir (1984-2002) and the Little Singers of Armenia (since 1992).
Tigran Hekekyan participates in various international festivals and competitions and performs in Europe, North America and Asia. During 1990 – 1995, Prof. Hekekyan’s choirs and pupils won 5 Gold, 5 Silver and 1 Bronze prizes in international competitions, including the International Choir Festival Arnhem (Netherlands), Takarazuka International Choral Competition (Japan), Roodepoort and Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod competitions (SAR, GB) and the Golden Gate Competition in San Francisco. Tigran Hekekyan performed extensively in Russia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, the United States, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Australia, South Africa, and China.
Awards and recognition
For his contributions to the advancement of Armenian culture, Tigran Hekekyan was awarded the Khorenatsi medal in 1996 by the President of the Republic of Armenia. His contributions in the field of education have earned him the honorary title of Prominent Educator by the President of the Republic of Armenia in 2010. In 2001, he was nominated the Cultural Ambassador of Europe by the European Federation of Choirs.
He is a full member of the European Academy of Natural Sciences (Hannover, Germany); the International Academy of Sciences of Nature and Society; the International Federation for Choral Music; the European Federation of Young Choirs; the International Society for Children’s Choral and Performing Arts; the International Choir Olympic Council of the INTERKULTUR Foundation; and an honorary academician of the Armenian Television and Radio Academy. Hekekyan was the Artistic Director of the Children and Youth International Festival Golden Ferry organized by PABSEC in 2001, 2002, and was also nominated the Artistic Director of the Aram Khachaturian Centenary Committee in 2003.
Hekekyan is the founder and artistic director of various national and international competitions and festivals such as Ashtarak ’93; Yerevan ’96; Singing Armenia, 2001, annually since 2006; United by Song, 2000; and the Song of Unity, 2004 and 2006. Tigran Hekekyan’s recordings have received many national and international awards and prizes.
Recordings
Among his numerous award-winning recordings are the Complete Works of Parsegh Ganatchian, Sacred Music of the 5th – 20th Centuries. The Fiat Lux a 3-CD set album was released in the United States (2009).