Konstantin Orbelyan Artistic director and conductor of the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia, laureate of international competitions Date of Birth: 27.08.1956 Country: USA

Biography of Konstantin Orbelian

Konstantin Orbelian is an artistic director and conductor of the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia. He is also a laureate of international competitions and the founder and musical director of two music festivals in Russia. Born on August 27, 1956, in San Francisco, USA, Konstantin Orbelian comes from a family with a strong musical background. His father, Harry Agaparonovich Orbelian, was the vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco, responsible for foreign economic relations, and his uncle, Konstantin Agaparonovich Orbelian, was a renowned musician, composer, and artistic director of the State Estrada Orchestra of Armenia.

From a young age, Konstantin Orbelian showed exceptional talent as a pianist. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 4 at the Children's Department of the San Francisco Conservatory. His innate talent and hard work paid off, and at the age of 6, he won the Bach Piano Competition. By the age of 9, he had already performed his first solo concert, and at 11, he made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The international press was amazed by the success of the young prodigy.

In 1971, Konstantin Orbelian enrolled at the Yerevan Conservatory in Armenia as a scholarship student of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. He also traveled to Moscow to receive consultations from renowned pianist Anaide Sumbatyan. In 1975, he moved to New York and successfully auditioned for the Juilliard School, becoming an honorary fellow of Nadia Reisenberg, a student of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and a pupil of Alexander Glazunov and Leonid Nikolaev. Four years later, Konstantin Orbelian earned a bachelor's degree, followed by a master's degree in 1980.

Since then, Konstantin Orbelian has embarked on a prolific career as a concert pianist, performing over 750 concerts worldwide. He has been invited to collaborate with prestigious orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, Leningrad Symphony, and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, and Vladimir Spivakov have worked with him.

Konstantin Orbelian is also a frequent guest at music festivals in Newport, California, San Antonio, and Helsinki. He has recorded numerous albums, including works by Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven, and Armenian composers such as Khachaturian, Arutyunyan, and Babajanian.

In 1991, Konstantin Orbelian was appointed as the artistic director and conductor of the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia (now known as the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia). Under his leadership, the orchestra has become one of the best chamber orchestras in the world. Despite the lack of financial support for the arts in Russia during that time, the orchestra has survived and thrived through international tours. The orchestra performs over 140 concerts annually, with more than 80 concerts taking place abroad.

In addition to his work with the orchestra, Konstantin Orbelian is the founder and musical director of two music festivals in Russia. Since 1991, he has organized the International Chamber Music Festival "Palaces of St. Petersburg," which brings together musicians and chamber performers from around the world to perform in the magnificent palaces of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. In 1996, he also initiated the concert series "Musical Treasures in the Museums of the Kremlin," held in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin with the support of the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov.

Konstantin Orbelian is a sought-after conductor and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian-American Youth Orchestra. He also teaches the history of Russian music at Stanford University. Fluent in both English and Russian, he considers both America and Russia to be his home countries. Orbelian's dedication and passion for music have earned him international recognition and praise for his artistic achievements.