Ohan Durian
Armenian musician (1922-2011)
Ohan Durian or Duryan (Armenian: Օհան Դուրյան; September 8, 1922, Jerusalem - January 6, 2011, Yerevan) was an Armenian conductor and composer.
Life and career
Ohan Durian was born Hanna Khatchadurian in Jerusalem. From 1939 to 1945 he studied composition, conducting and organ at the Jerusalem Conservatory. He completed his education in Europe under the tutelage of Hermann Scherchen, Roger Désormière and Jean Martinon.
After graduating, he toured Europe, performing with several orchestras, and worked as a music teacher at Birzeit University between 1944 and 1946. In 1957 he settled in Armenia at the invitation of Catholicos Vazgen I, and in 1959-65 and 1972-1974 he was conductor of the Armenian State Philharmonic Society.
Due to Soviet restrictions on artistic expression, he left Armenia for Europe, and from 1963 to 1968 he served as music director of the Leipzig Opera and was guest conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He also worked with other orchestras including the Avignon and Cape Town orchestras. From 1971 to 1972 he was the conductor of Yerevan State Opera and Ballet Theater and finally left Soviet Armenia in 1975.
In 1991 Armenia gained independence, and in the same year Durian returned to serve as the artistic director and principal conductor of the Ohan Durian Radio & TV Symphony Orchestra, which he founded, and as principal conductor and artistic director of the Yerevan Opera Theatre.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ohan Durian” as armenian musician (1922-2011). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as armenian musician (1922-2011). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2087820. VIAF identifies the subject as 58653768. The Library of Congress control number is no94000190. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922, 2011, 1939 and 1945.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ohan Durian”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ohan Durian primary sources, Ohan Durian archive and Ohan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ohan Durian”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ohan Durian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.