Loris Tjeknavorian

Loris Tjeknavorian (also spelt Cheknavarian, Armenian: Լորիս Ճգնավորյան; PerB| لوریس چکناواریان, born october 13 1937 as son of an Armenian immigrant family) is a contemporary Armenian-Iranian composer and conductor. He was born in Borujerd in the province of Lorestan, southwestern Iran, and was educated in Tehran.

In the course of his career, Cheknavarian has made about 100 recordings (with RCA, Philips, EMI, ASV, etc.) and written more than 75 compositions (symphonies, operas, a requiem, chamber music, concerto for piano, violin, guitar, cello and bipa (Chinese lute), ballet music, choral works and an oratorio. And over 45 Film mosaics. Cheknavarian also has conducted international orchestras throughout the world: in Austria, UK, U.S., Canada, Hungary, Iran, Finland, former USSR, Armenia, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Denmark, Israel, etc.

His own compositions have been performed by major orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra in New York, the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the London Percussion Virtuosies, the Strasbourg Percussion Ensemble and English Chamber Orchestra.

Biography

After he had studied violin and piano at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, he studied composition at the Vienna Music Academy where, in 1961, he graduated with honors. Shortly after his graduation four of his piano compositions and his ballet "Fantastique" for three pianos, celeste and percussion were published by Doeblinger in Vienna. From 1961 to 1963 Cheknavarian taught music theory at the Tehran Conservatory of Music. At the same time, he was appointed director of the National Music Archives in Tehran and was in charge of collecting and researching traditional Iranian folk music and national instruments.

In 1963, back in Austria, Professor Carl Orff granted him a scholarship, which allowed him to reside in Salzburg and to complete his opera "Rostam and Sohrab". In 1965, Cheknavarian began to study conducting at the University of Michigan, From 1966 to 1967 he was appointed composer in residence at the Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and from 1966 to 1970 head of the instrumental and Opera Departments at the Moorhead University in Minnesota.

In 1970, the Iranian Cultural Minister offered Cheknavarian a "position as composer in residence" including principal conductor to the Rudaki Opera House Orchestra in Tehran. He then conducted a number of major operas including his own works, such as his Fairytale opera "Pardis and Parisa" and the Dance drama "Simorgh". In 1975 Cheknavarian signed an "Exclusive Conducting" contract, with the RCA recording company and made many successful recordings with leading orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1989, Cheknavarian was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra (APO). During his eleven years collaboration with the APO, his recordings for ORF (the Austrian radio and television station) and ASV (an English recording company) achieved world-wide recognition, they frequently toured Europe, the United States, Canada, Iran and Lebanon. In three successive years, from 1991 to 1993, the APO was the resident orchestra in the ORF benefit program "Licht ins Dunkel" in Vienna. However, in 2000, Cheknavarian resigned from this position in order to be able to devote more time to composing and conducting other orchestras.

Cheknavarian's immediate plans, as a conductor, include a concert as Composer and Conductor with Vienna Symphony Orchestra, performances at the San Francisco Opera House, at the Contemporary Music Festival and the Vienna Music Festival in Hong Kong and Bangkok; and Austrian premiere of his opera "Rostam and Sohrab" in the Festspielhaus in St. Poelten.

After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 he emigrated to the Soviet Union and to Austria, where he got under Chancellor Bruno Kreisky the Austrian Citizenship. He lifed from the 1990th to the beginning of the 2000th in Vienna. Currently he resides in Yerevan.

See also

* Music of Iran
* List of Iranians
* Persian Symphonic Music
* Rostam and Sohrab (opera)

References

* [http://www.iranchamber.com/music/ltjeknavorian/loris_tjeknavorian.php Iran Chamber Society www.iranchamber.com]

External links

* [http://www.loristjeknavorian.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=279608 Photos of Cheknavarian performing in "Vahdat Hall" in Tehran (1)] , January 18, 2006.
* [http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=279612 Photos of Cheknavarian performing in "Vahdat Hall" in Tehran (2)] , January 18, 2006.