Edvard Mik'aeli Mirzoian (1921 - 2012)

Edvard Mirzoian was born on 12 May 1921 in Gori, Georgia. In 1941, he graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatory in the class of Vardges Talian. During 1946–48 he refined his professional skills at the Music Studio of the Armenian House of Culture in Moscow. Mirzoian is a laureate of several awards, and a representative of the Armenian Mighty Handful. He was President of the Union of Composers of Armenia from 1951 to 1991. Mirzoian was a renowned pedagogue who taught many students including Avet Terterian, Konstantin Orbelian, Jivan Ter-Tadevosian and Robert Amirkhanian, among others. He composed many outstanding works and film scores, and his music received performances by many world-renowned musicians. He died on 10 October 2012 in Yerevan.

Mirzoian’s creative legacy is based on the synthesis of Armenian folk music and modern music techniques, which are vividly expressed in his solo piano compositions Poem (1971, written for his daughter Zaruhi who also gave the first performance) and Album for my Granddaughter (1984).

– Hayk Melikyan