Tigran Arakelyan

About Tigran Arakelyan

Rising Star\"- The Armenian Mirror-Spectator ​​Seattle Weekly described his interpretation of Beethoven\'s Symphony Nr. 1 as \"confident, convincing,lyrically phrased, and excellent tempo\". Armenian-American conductor Tigran Arakelyan is the Assistant Conductor of the California Philharmonic and the Music Director of Northwest Mahler Festival, Port Townsend Symphony, Federal Way Youth Symphony and the Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestras. He recently made his Walt Disney Concert Hall conducting debut and has played alongside Sir James Galway during his induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Tigran is a prize winner in The American Prize—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming and at the Global Music Awards. He has programmed diverse concerts with works by William Grant Still, Amy Beach, Alma Mahler, Fanny Mendelssohn, Vasily Kalinnikov and conducted regional premieres by renowned composers Paul Hindemith, Keith Jarrett and James Cohn, among others. Arakelyan has taken his orchestras to many unconventional venues, from bars and cideries to cafes and gyms. As the host of Off the Podium Music Podcast he has interviewed legendary musicians such as: Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker, Grammy Award winning musicians Christian McBride (bassist) and David Harrington (Kronos Quartet), as well as Vijay Iyer, Roger Bobo, Melia Watras, Christopher Cerrone, Robert Dick, Martin Bresnick and a long list of others. Previously, he held assistant/associate conductor positions with the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, Bellingham Symphony, Northridge Youth Philharmonic and the Rainier Symphony. Tigran\'s recent conducting engagements were with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Olympia Chamber Orchestra, Armenian Pops Orchestra, Sungji Youth Symphony (S. Korea), Gujwa Youth Orchestra (S. Korea), Centum Youth Orchestra (S. Korea), Juneau Symphony and innovative collaborations with the Olympic Performance Group and Olympic Youth Choir. Tigran has taken the Federal Way Youth Symphony on three tours of South Korea, conducting in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Daejeon, Gwangju, among other cities. Invited by Maestro Morlot, Tigran earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Washington where he was the first student in the inaugural class of Morlot and David A. Rahbee. His mentors are Victor Vener, John Barcellona, Paul Taub, and Laura Osborn. Tigran played in flute masterclasses with Stephen Preston and Shigenori Kudo.​ In his youth he played in the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic Orchestra.

Experience

1. Executive Director

   Pacific Ballroom Dance

   Dec 2025 — Present · Auburn, WA, US

   Pacific Ballroom Dance is the largest ballroom organization in the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest dance non-profits in the region.Responsible for overall leadership, strategic vision, community partnerships, and program development.

Education

• California State University, Northridge

  Master of Music, Conducting

  2011 — 2013

• University of Washington

  Doctor of Musical Arts, Orchestral Conducting

  2013 — 2016