Kojian, Varujan (Haig)
Kojian, Varujan (Haig)
Kojian, Varujan (Haig), Armenian-born American conductor; b. Beirut (of Armenian parents), March 12, 1935; d. Carpinteria, Calif., March 4, 1993. He studied violin at the Paris Cons. (1953–56), winning a premier prix, with Galamian at the Curtis Inst, of Music in Philadelphia, and with Heifetz in Los Angeles (1960). He became asst. concertmaster of the Los Angeles Phil. (1965); after conducting studies with Sasha Popov, he was made Mehta’s assistant at the Los Angeles Phil. (1970); then went to Vienna for additional conducting studies with Swarowsky (1971), taking 1st prize in the Sorrento competition (1972). From 1973 to 1976 he was asst. conductor of the Seattle Sym. Orch., and from 1973 to 1980, principal guest conductor of the Royal Opera in Stockholm; then was music director of the Utah Sym. Orch. in Salt Lake City (1980–83), the Chautauqua (N.Y.) Sym. Orch. (1981–86), Ballet West in Salt LakeCity (from 1984), and the Santa Barbara Sym. orch. (from 1985). In 1967 he became a naturalized American citizen.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire