RAFFI ARMENIAN is Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Toronto. He graduated from the piano performances class at the Academy of Music, Vienna, in 1962. In 1965, he graduated from Imperial College, University of London, with a BSc. He then completed studies at the Vienna Academy of Music in Orchestral Conducting, Choral Conducting, and Composition.
In 1969 Armenian immigrated to Canada, where he became Artistic Director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (1971-1993). In 1974 he founded the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, which achieved international recognition. He has guest conducted all of the major orchestras in Canada, as well as in Belgium, Italy, the USA, and the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra. He is equally at home on the operatic podium.
Mr. Armenian¹s work has received countless honours including the Canadian Grand Prix du Disque for Serenades (one of twenty-eight CD¹s he has recorded) and an Emmy Award Nomination for the TV Performance of Menotti¹s Medium starring Maureen Forrester. He has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, and in 1989 he was honoured with Membership to the Order of Canada.
