Conductor Raffi Armenian leaves Montréal ConservatoireJune 21, 2013 - 13:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Raffi Armenian, a former director of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and the conductor of its orchestra since 1981, has left the school to pursue other opportunities, Montréal Gazette reported. 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 Montréal. “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 Opéra de Montréal. 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. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Russia provides info about arrested Armenian ex-MP Russian law enforcement agencies have provided information about the arrest of Tigran Urikhanyan. Lemkin Institue slams Pashinyan's “cryptic engagement with Genocide denial” The Lemkin Institute is alarmed over Pashinyan’s statements “questioning Armenia's legal basis to pursue justice against Turkey”. 41 detained as antigovernment protests continue in Yerevan 41 people were detained in Yerevan as people demanding Pashinian’s resignation stage campaigns of civil disobedience. Armenia votes for UN resolution granting Palestine new rights The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on May 10 to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine. |