Tigran Arakelyan (born 1987) is an Armenian-American conductor, currently the music director of the Northwest Mahler Festival and Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra. [1] [2] Since 2022, Arakelyan is the executive director of Music Works Northwest in Bellevue, WA. [3]
Arakelyan held conducting positions with the California Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and youth orchestras in Bainbridge Island, Federal Way and Bremerton. He played alongside James Galway and the Los Angeles Philharmonic during Galway's induction to the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. Arakelyan conducted regional premieres by Paul Hindemith, James Cohn, [4] Keith Jarrett and Iosif Andriasov. He is a recipient of awards from The American Prize, Global Music Awards and AGBU Performing Arts Fellowship.
He has a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Washington and a M.Mus from California State University, Northridge. His musical studies are with Ludovic Morlot, John Barcellona and Paul Taub. Arakelyan participated in masterclasses and festivals at the Conductors Guild, Pierre Monteux School, Idyllwild Music Festival and the Seattle Flute Society. In masterclasses he has worked with David Effron, Stephen Preston, and others. He played in the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic Orchestra.
Arakelyan has done podcast interviews with George Walker, Evelyn Glennie, David Harrington from Kronos Quartet, Christian McBride, Mark O'Connor, Sharon Isbin, Richard Stoltzman, Christopher Theofanidis, Vijay Iyer, Yolanda Kondonassis, Diane Schuur, Øystein Baadsvik, Ransom Wilson, Roger Bobo, Eugene Izotov, Martin Kuuskmann, Ran Blake, Jaime Martin, Melia Watras, Martin Bresnick, JoAnn Falletta, Kris Kwapis, Alphonso Johnson, Jovino Santos Neto, Leslie Mándoki, Joseph Young, Wadada Leo Smith, Robert Dick & many others. [5]
Claudio Abbado was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, founder and director of Lucerne Festival Orchestra, founder and director of Mahler Chamber Orchestra, founding Artistic Director of Orchestra Mozart, music director of European Union Youth Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra.
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Klaus Hermann Wilhelm Tennstedt was a German conductor from Merseburg. Known for his interpretation of the Austro-German repertoire, especially his sympathetic approaches towards Gustav Mahler, Tennstedt is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential conductors of the late 20th century. He worked with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Symphony Orchestra, world-top ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and most notably the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he was closely associated and recorded many of his celebrated recordings under the EMI label, including a cycle of Mahler's 10 symphonies.
Daniel John Harding is a British conductor.
Roger Bobo was an American tuba virtuoso and brass pedagogue. He retired from active tuba performance in 2001 in order to devote his time to conducting and teaching. He gave what is reputed to be the first solo tuba recital in the history of Carnegie Recital Hall. His solo and ensemble discography is extensive. He was the author of "Mastering the Tuba" published by Editions Bim (CH). While living in the US, he was the resident conductor of the Topanga Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a guest conductor with numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles in North America, Europe and Asia.
Manfred Honeck is an Austrian conductor. He is currently the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski.
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. In February 2023, Dudamel announced that he would be leaving Los Angeles, California after the 2025–2026 orchestral season to become conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
Donato Cabrera is an American conductor with an active international career. He is the Music Director of the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and was the Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2009-2016.
Michael Christie is a Grammy-winning American conductor.
Jaime Martín is a Spanish conductor and flautist.
Miguel Alberto Harth-Bedoya is a Peruvian conductor. He was formerly music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020 and chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra from 2013 to 2020. He is currently Director of Orchestral Studies at Baylor University.
Brett Mitchell is an American conductor, composer, and pianist. He began a three-year term as Artistic Director & Conductor of the Sunriver Music Festival in August 2022. He previously served as music director of the Colorado Symphony from 2017 to 2021, Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra from 2013 to 2017, Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France from 2006 to 2009, Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony from 2007 to 2011, Music Director of the Moores Opera Center in Houston from 2012 to 2013, and Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra from 2010 to 2015.
Ludovic Morlot is a French conductor.
Benjamin Shwartz is an American-Israeli orchestral and opera conductor, and music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic known for his interest in and commitment to new music. Born in Los Angeles and raised there and in Israel, he attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California before enrolling in the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied composition with James Primosch. He continued his composition studies in Germany with Karlheinz Stockhausen. As a conducting student at the Curtis Institute of Music, he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller and worked closely with Christoph Eschenbach and Ned Rorem. Shwartz won numerous awards including the Presser Award, and Third Prize in the 2007 International Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, Germany. Since 2022 he ist music director of the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Koblenz (Germany).
Holly Mathieson is a New Zealand conductor and music academic.
Joseph Young is an American orchestra conductor.
Frank Edwin Shipway was a British conductor.
Wong Kah Chun, also known as Kahchun Wong, is a Singaporean conductor.