Tigran Hekekyan

Tigran Hekekyan (Armenian: Տիգրան Հեքեքյան) is an Armenian professor of music at Yerevan State Conservatory and a conductor. He is the founder, artistic director, and principal conductor of the Little Singers of Armenia choir. He is also Founder and President of the Armenian Little Singers International Association. He has been a professor of conducting in Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory since 1985, as well as the Headmaster of the Sayat Nova School of Music.

A graduate of Sayat-Nova School of Music and Romanos Melikian Music College in Yerevan, he completed his post-graduate studies in conducting at the Komitas State Conservatory, where he continues to teach since 1985. He is also the Headmaster of the Sayat-Nova School of Music. During thirty years of creative activity Mr. Hekekyan has established and worked with a number of choirs, including the winner of national and international competitions, notably the Children’s Choir at Alexander Spendiarian School of Music (1982-1988), the female choir at the Committee of Youth Organization(1986-1988), the Armenian Radio and TV Chamber Choir (1984-2002) and the Little Singers of Armenia (since 1992). As part of his creative endeavors, Tigran Hekekyan has established and worked with a number of choirs, notably the Children’s Choir at the Alexander Spendiarian School of Music; the female choir at the Committee of Youth Organization; the Armenian Radio and Television Chamber Choir; and the Little Singers of Armenia.

Tigran Hekekyan participates in various international festivals and competitions and performs in Europe, North America and Asia. The many choirs he has directed have earned acclaim by taking top prizes at numerous international competitions. Among its accomplishments are 2 silver medals (“Eisteddfod”) Roodeport, South African Republic, 1993, silver medal (“Eisteddfod”) Llangollen, UK, 1994, a grand prix, 2 golden and silver medal (“Golden Gate” International Children's Choral Festival, San Francisco, USA, 1995).

Aside from competitions, the choir has also participated in various international festivals including, but not limited to, European Festival of Youth Choirs (Basel , Switzerland, 1995, 2014), Hong Kong and Beijing International Festivals (China, 1999), Golden Ferry (Sochi, Russia, 2001), Dimitria International Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece, 2002), Armenian American Choral Festival Song of Unity (Armenia, 2004, 2006), Children’s Friendship on the Planet (Moscow, Russia, 2010), and Let the Future Sing International Festival (Stockholm, Sweden, 2012), 5th Children Choir's Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece, 2015), Choral festival in Fribourg (Switzerland, 2016), "Abu-Gosh" choral festival (Israel, 2017), International Children's Choir Festival (Dresden, Germany, 2018), Tbilisi Choral Music Festival (Georgia, 2018).Also the choir participated in EXPO 2000 (Hannover, Germany) and the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 2002). Tigran Hekekyan performed extensively in Russia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, the United States, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Australia, South Africa, and China.

He periodically participates as jury member in different international choral competitions. As part of his cultural mission, he has also lectured in international symposia and festivals on the art of Armenian choral music, and has been instrumental in the inclusion of choral works by Armenian composers in prominent publications (Oxford press, Carus).

For his contributions to the advancement of Armenian culture, Tigran Hekekyan was awarded the Khorenatsi medal in 1996 by the President of Armenia. His contributions in the field of education have earned him the honorary title of Prominent Educator by the President of Armenia in 2010. In 2001, he was nominated the Cultural Ambassador of Europe by the European Federation of Choirs.

He is a full member of the European Academy of Natural Sciences (Hannover, Germany); the International Academy of Sciences of Nature and Society; the International Federation for Choral Music; the European Federation of Young Choirs; the International Society for Children’s Choral and Performing Arts; the International Choir Olympic Council of the INTERKULTUR Foundation; and an honorary academician of the Armenian Television and Radio Academy. Hekekyan was the Artistic Director of the Children and Youth International Festival Golden Ferry organized by PABSEC in 2001, 2002, and was also nominated the Artistic Director of the Aram Khachaturian Centenary Committee in 2003.

Hekekyan is the founder and artistic director of various national and international competitions and festivals such as Ashtarak ’93; Yerevan ’96; Singing Armenia, 2001, annually since 2006; United by Song, 2000; and the Song of Unity, 2004 and 2006. Tigran Hekekyan’s recordings have received many national and international awards and prizes.

Among his numerous award-winning recordings are the Complete Works of Parsegh Ganatchian, Sacred Music of the 5th – 20th Centuries. The Fiat Lux a 3-CD set album was released in the United States (2009)as wll as "Robert Petrosyan՛s songs written for the Little Singers of Armenia choir" (Armenia, 2011). The album Furusato (USA, 2012), 20 Years of Magic (USA, 2013), I remember and demand (Armenia, 2015), Benjamin Britten-Choral works for children choirs (Switzerland, 2016), Arigato (Japan, 2017).