The chief conductor of the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice is from the season 2025/2026 Vahan Mardirossian. He is, by origin, an Armenian conductor and pianist who lives in France and is known for his extraordinary talent and artistic approach. "We are thrilled to have acquired Vahan Mardirossian for our orchestra. It confirms that the level of the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice keeps rising. The artistic vision and rich experience of Vahan Mardirossian will bring new impulses and inspiration not only to our players but also to our audience," said Pavel Svoboda, the director of the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. "It is the beginning of a new chapter for our philharmonic, and we are looking forward to working with such an outstanding musician," he added. Vahan Mardirossian is coming to Pardubice with a clear vision and enthusiasm for the orchestra's development. "It is an honour for me to become the chief conductor of the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. I have been working with this orchestra for some time, mainly on recordings, and we understood each other very quickly. I am looking forward to the opportunities, perhaps even international ones, that our common future will bring," said Mardirossian.
Vahan Mardirossian was born in 1975 in Yerevan, Armenia. He started his musical career at the Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan. Still, he soon moved to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, France where he completed his studies in 1996 with honours. He works as a pianist but in recent years much more often as a conductor. Furthermore, he successfully combines his skills, which allows him to interpret the repertoire from different points of view. For many years he was the principal conductor of the Caen Symphony Orchestra in France and the music director of the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia. Since January 2020, he has been the music director of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, with which he conducts the orchestra rounds at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. He also works with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. He has cooperated with many internationally renowned soloists from all around the world. His CDs include, for example, the award-winning recording of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with Stéphanie-Marie Degand and the Caen Symphony Orchestra with the recording of Florentina Mulsant's Music for Strings with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia. In addition to conducting, Mardirossian also teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, where he teaches young talents and passes on his extensive experience. He is a regular member of juries at international competitions and often holds master classes worldwide. "Vahan Mardirossian is an excellent pianist and conductor with great international experience. He regularly conducts, for example, the orchestra rounds of the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. I had the honour to perform with him on several stages abroad and it was always a beautiful and inspiring cooperation. I wish the Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice to return to world stages under the leadership of Vahan Mardirossian, as was the case, for example, during the era of Libor Pešek or Petr Altrichter," adds Jan Simon, director of the Prague Dvořák Festival. He is also connected with the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice by an extensive discography for the prestigious Dutch label Brilliant Classics.
