Director Armenian Leaves Conservatoire

DIRECTOR ARMENIAN LEAVES CONSERVATOIRE

Montreal Gazette, QC, Canada
June 21 2013

By Arthur Kaptainis, The Gazette

Raffi Armenian, a former director of the Conservatoire de musique de
Montreal and the conductor of its orchestra since 1981, has left the
school to pursue other opportunities.

One of these is promoting the opera he has just written, Beware of
Pity, based on a novel by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig.

“This is the advantage of being free,” Armenian, 71, said from his
home on Nun’s Island.

Born in Cairo and trained in Vienna, Armenian coached dozens of
conducting students at the Conservatoire and elevated its student
orchestra to a high level.

Among the best-known graduates of his conducting class are Jacques
Lacombe, music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and
Jean-Marie Zeitouni, music director of the Columbus Symphony and I
Musici de Montreal.

“What I am most proud of is this,” he said of his students.

Music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 1971 to 1992
and professor of conducting in Graz, Austria, from 1997 to 1999,
Armenian has conducted many Canadian orchestras and opera companies,
including the OSM and the Opera de Montreal.

Armenian said he hoped to restore the professional contacts he lost
during his term as Conservatoire director from 2008 to 2011 and resume
his career as a guest conductor. He and his wife, Agnes Grossmann,
will continue to live on Nun’s Island.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress