Armenian conductor Tigran Arakelyan named one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America Worldwide
Posted on December. 24. 2023
Armenian-American executive director, conductor, podcaster, and radio host, Dr. Tigran Arakelyan has been named one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America Worldwide, the oldest classical music magazine in America.
This year’s Musical America Top 30 Professionals are the entrepreneurs, the worker bees, the creative minds that ensure the health of the artform and its essential value in our lives, now and for generations to come. 30,000 industry professionals were asked to nominate people “who persistently and relentlessly strive to keep the performing arts vital. They are thoughtful, creative, and often innovative; they are the hard workers.”
“Tigran Arakelyan finds it hard to recount everything he’s accomplished in his 36 years without being overwhelmed with gratitude. He’s “been fortunate,” he insists. Or he’d sooner credit his many mentors—like his first music teacher in Armenia, or Ludovic Morlot, former music director of the Seattle Symphony—and his parents, who encouraged his “crazy ideas.” Crazy to some, maybe. But many can’t imagine classical music in the Seattle area without Arakelyan. Recently named one of 425 Business magazine’s 40 under 40, Arakelyan has conducted numerous regional orchestras in Washington and California; he took the Federal Way Youth Symphony on three tours to South Korea in 2014, 2017, and 2019, and is known for finding unusual venues for all of his projects, from bars to cafes to homeless shelters. On his podcast, Let’s Talk Off the Podium, he has interviewed a huge variety of notables including George Walker, Vijay Iyer, Evelyn Glennie, JoAnn Falletta, Sharon Isbin, and Christopher Theofanidis,” the Musical America Worldwide said.
Tigran Arakelyan is an Armenian-American executive director, conductor, podcaster, and radio host. Tigran held conducting positions with the California Philharmonic, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and made his Walt Disney Concert Hall conducting debut in 2019. He played alongside Sir James Galway during Galway’s induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Tigran received awards from The American Prize and the Global Music Awards. Currently, he is the Music Director of Northwest Mahler Festival and Port Townsend Symphony. He conducted regional premieres by renowned composers Paul Hindemith, Keith Jarrett, Brenno Blauth, and James Cohn. Since 2009, Tigran has founded three orchestras, music festivals, competitions, and numerous scholarship/grant and funding initiatives.