Ohannes Tchekidjian

Ohannes Tchekidjian

Ohannes Tchekidjian (Armenian: Հովհաննես Չեքիջյան; born January 23, 1929) is an Armenian composer and conductor and a recipient of both USSR State Prize and People's Artist of USSR.[1]

Biography

Tchekidjian was born in Istanbul, Turkey and attended Mekhitaryan School there for seven years.

From 1941 to 1947 he attended French College of Saint Michel and from 1944 to 1951 worked at both Istanbul Conservatory as faculty conductor and as a conductor of the Duryan Choir. From 1951 to 1953 he attended lectures of professor Jean Fournet at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and during the same years have attended Institute of Chemistry where he obtained a minor degree in chemical engineering.

In 1961 he took postgraduate lessons at the Istanbul Conservatory and then mover to Armenia where he worked with the State Academic Choir. Prior to it, he was artistic director and chief conductor of the State Choir of Istanbul, a music director of the Süreyya Opera House, and was a founder and conductor of his own choir. In 1969 he was awarded an Academic title from the Armenian State Choir and six years later got an Honoured title as well. Since 1975 he works at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan where he became a professor by 1982, and from that year till 1987 was a director and chief conductor of the Spendiaryan Academic State Theatre of Opera & Ballet in the same place. Besides being a composer and conductor he also had some political influence in Armenia. From 1975 to 1990 he was a member of Armenian National Assembly in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and then was promoted to Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union membership where he served from 1979 to 1984.[1] On April 27, 2010 he conducted Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan which Supreme Patriarch Karekin II have attended.[2]

EDUCATION

1934-1941 Mkhitaryan School, Istanbul
1941-1947 French College of Saint Michel
1944-1951 Faculty of Conductors at The Istanbul Conservatory
1947-1951 The branch of Vienna College, Istanbul
1951-1953 Paris Ecole Normale de Musique, lectured by professor Jean Fournet, the Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera House. Also attended the Institute of Chemistry, got diploma in Chemical Engineering
1958-1961 Postgraduate courses at the Istanbul Conservatory

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Has never been a member of a Political Party at any  time

1975-1980 Member of Parliament of Supreme Council of Armenian SSR
1979-1984 Member of Parliament of Supreme Council of the USSR
1980-1990 Member of Parliament of Supreme Council of Armenian SSR

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

1944-1951 Conductor of the Duryan Choir, Istanbul
1955-1961 Founder of the Tchekidjian Choir
1958-1961 Musical director of the stage of The Istanbul Opera
1960-1961 Artistic director and Chief Conductor of The State Choir, Istanbul
1961-present Moved to Armenia and since then has been working with The State Academic Choir of Armenia as the Artistic Director & Chief Conductor. The Choir was awarded the Academic title in 1969 and the Honoured title in 1975. By the special governmental order National Status in 2012
1975-present Working at Komitas State Conservatory, Yerevan.  Professorship from High Attestation Commission of USSR since 1982.
1982-1987 General Director of Spendiaryan Academic State Theatre of Opera & Ballet, Yerevan

WORLD TOURS OUT OF THE USSR

1964 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1966 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1967 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1969 Lithuania
1971 Lithuania
1974 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1974 France, Lebanon
1976 Latvia
1979 Czechoslovakia
1980 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1980 Poland
1983 Latvia, Estonia
1986 France, Great Britain, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
1987 United States of America, Latvia
1990 Greece
1992 Lebanon, Syria
1994 United States of America
1995 Great Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland
1997 Turkey
1998 Argentina
1999 Switzerland (Prize at the Festival International de Montreux)
2001 France, Greece
2003 Australia
2004 Turkey
2005 Lebanon, Syria
2008 United States of America
2009 United States of America
2011 Germany
2012 Argentina, Uruguay, USA
2013 Turkey
2014 Turkey
2015 France
2016 Lebanon
2017 Turkey Order “Ormanian”

References

  1. ^ a b "Ohannes Tchekidjian". Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Mozart's Requiem at St Gregory the Illuminator in Yerevan". The Armenian Church. April 30, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2014.