Peter Oundjian

Peter Oundjian (born 1955, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a violinist and conductor, the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother. He was educated in England, where he began studying the violin at age seven with Manoug Parikian. He then attended the Royal College of Music. He went to New York to study at the Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman, and Dorothy Delay.

In 1980, he won First Prize at the International Violin Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile. Oundjian went on to hold an illustrious career as the first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet for 14 years. A repetitive stress injury forced Oundjian to put aside his instrumental career [ [http://www.colineatock.com/oundjian.htm Colin Eatock, "Oundjian on Board". "Opus", fall 2004.] ] . He then shifted his musical focus to being a conductor.

Oundjian was the Artistic Director of the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam (now the [http://www.sinfonietta.nl/s/d/sinf/cont.1.php?s29p64 Amsterdam Sinfonietta] ) from 1998-2003. He is also the Artistic Advisor and Principal Guest Conductor of the Caramoor International Music Festival. He was the Principal Guest Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for 3 years. His guest-conducting appearances have been with the Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, St. Louis and Berlin Symphonies, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich. For four summers, he led The Philadelphia Orchestra's "Absolutely Mozart" Festival.

Oundjian was appointed the Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) in January 2003, and assumed the post in 2004. The orchestra had financial problems before the time of Oundjian's appointment, but he has contributed to an improvement in the orchestra's situation since the start of his tenure [ [http://www.thestar.com/article/177344 John Terauds, "TSO's new season". "Toronto Star", 3 February 2007.] ] . The documentary film "" (Canada, 2005) records the first days of the TSO’s inaugural season with Oundjian as its new maestro. In February 2007, Oundjian extended his contract with the TSO to 2012 [ [http://www.thestar.com/article/179414 John Terauds, "Conductor puts mark on TSO through '12". "Toronto Star", 8 February 2007.] ] [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/s_493378.html Mark Kanny, "Conductor believes symphony alludes to events in composer's childhood". "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review", 16 February 2007.] ] .

Oundjian was named the Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, effective September 2006. [ [http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/4782.html Vivien Schweitzer, "Detroit Symphony Appoints Peter Oundjian Principal Guest Conductor". "Playbill", 20 June 2006.] ] Since 1981, he has also taught as an adjunct professor of violin at the Yale University School of Music. [ [http://www.yale.edu/opa/ybc/v26.n19.news.09.html Yale Bulletin and Calendar, Vol. 26 (No. 19), 2-9 February 1998.] ]

Oundjian and his wife Nadine have two children. British comedian Eric Idle is his cousin, as their mothers are sisters. In June 2007, Oundjian conducted the world premiere of an oratorio by Idle and John DuPrez based on the Monty Python movie "Life of Brian", titled "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)" , at the first [http://www.luminato.com/ Luminato Festival] in Toronto, Canada. [cite news | url=http://www.thestar.com/article/220777 | title=Not the Messiah captures best '70s British humour | publisher="Toronto Star" | author=John Terauds | date=2 June 2007 | accessdate=2007-07-13] [cite news | url=http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/218027 | title=The afterlife of Brian | publisher="Toronto Star" | author=John Terauds | date=27 May 2007 | accessdate=2007-07-13]

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