Tigran Mansurian

Over the course of a long career, Tigran Mansurian has become one of Armenia's cultural treasures. Mansurian was born in Beirut, but his family returned to their homeland in 1947, and he eventually attended Yerevan's Conservatory, the same school where he would teach in the 1970s-'80s and then direct in the 1990s. His music has several champions, such as cellist Karine Georgian, violist Kim Kashkashian and the Rosamunde Quartett. Mansurian has written in all genres, with orchestral, chamber, and vocal works dominating his catalog, but he also has scored dozens of films. His music — developing in stylistic phases over his career — is concise, capable of expressing a great deal lyrically, by economical means. Elements of neo-classicism, serialism, and, frequently, Armenian monody and the music of Komitas, can be found in it.