Peter Oundjian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Oundjian is a violinist and conductor.
Oundjian was born in Toronto, Canada, and educated in England, where he began studying the violin at age seven with Manoug Parikian. He then attended the Royal College of Music. He also studied violin with Robert Mann and at the Juilliard School in 1975 with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman, and Dorothy Delay.
In 1980, he won First Prize at the International Violin Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile. Previously, Oundjian performed as first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet.
Oundjian was the Artistic Director of the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam (now the Amsterdam Sinfonietta) from 1998-2003. He became Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2004. He was the Principal Guest Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and he has appeared as conductor with the Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, St. Louis and Berlin Symphonies, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich, the Concertgebouw, as well as with other orchestras.
He is also the Artistic Advisor and Principal Guest Conductor of the Caramoor International Music Festival. Recently, Oundjian was named the Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Oundjian continues to be active as a soloist, especially with Canadian orchestras.
He teaches at the Yale School of Music and the University of Cincinnati, and currently lives in the United States.
[edit] Trivia
- British comedian Eric Idle is his cousin.
Oundjian started his career in music as the lead violin in the Tokyo String Quartet. Oundjian is the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother. He has two children and currently resides in Toronto
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Lev Markiz |
Artistic Director, Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam 1998–2003 |
Succeeded by Candida Thompson |
| Preceded by Jukka-Pekka Saraste |
Music Director, Toronto Symphony Orchestra 2004– |
Succeeded by incumbent |
