History

The National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia was founded in 1962 by prominent violinist Zareh Sahakiants. Due to his brilliant individuality and reputation, Zareh Sahakiants managed to unite a group of dedicated musicians, and in a short period, the orchestra gained a great reputation in Armenia and far beyond its borders. Zareh Sahakyants has left rich performing and creative traditions, and the established traditions were further developed and enriched by the subsequent directors of the orchestra Kostandin Baghdasaryan (since 1975) and Ruben Aharonyan (since 1982). In 1997 the orchestra was united with Yerevan Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1979 and headed by its conductor Zaven Vardanyan. As a result, the present National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia (NCOA) was formed. American-Armenian conductor Aram Gharabekian became its Artistic Director. The NCOA has commissioned and premiered more than 40 new works and encouraged the integration of traditional Armenian musical instruments such as duduk, zurna, shvi and kamancha in the works written for the orchestra. They have recorded CDs that included contemporary Armenian composers’ works having an aim to develop and promote contemporary music.