Dr. Gohar Manvelyan is the fourth recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation - Christa and Franz-Paul Decker Fellowship in Conducting at Schulich School of Music

September 29, 2021

Dr. Gohar Manvelyan  began her music studies at the age of four and at five years old, was accepted into the Tchaikovsky Music School for gifted children in Yerevan. At ten, she moved with her family to Moscow where she pursued her studies at the Myaskovsky Music School in both piano and organ. After completing her studies there, Gohar entered the P. I. Tchaikovsky Academic Music College of the Moscow Conservatory where she double majored in piano and choral conducting, graduating with Distinction in both subjects. 

In 2005 she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Music Performance Studies, with Great Distinction and a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Music Performance Studies, specializing in Piano Performance at Concordia University, in Montreal. She was the piano finalist in the Canadian Music Competition of 2008. In 2013, she acquired her first Master's degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Sherbrooke and in 2014, her second Master’s degree in Piano Performance at McGill University. In May 2019, Gohar obtained her Doctorate in Choral Conducting with her thesis on Makar Yekmalyan’s Divine Liturgy: The Introduction of Polyphony in Armenian Sacred.

Dr. Manvelyan has been teaching piano in her studio since 2012, and enjoys working as a collaborative pianist, accompanying singers and instrumentalists at festivals, recitals and auditions. 

Since 2019, Dr. Manvelyan has been the Artistic Director and Conductor of Les Muses Chorale and the Saint-Bruno Carousellers Community Choir. Most recently she has been appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of La Chorale Harmonia (an upper voice community choir). In 2021, Dr. Manvelyan was among the top applicants accepted by McGill University to pursue a Master’s in Orchestral Conducting, with Maestro Alexis Hauser. 

“Gohar Manvelyan is a uniquely well-rounded musician, holding graduate degrees in both piano performance and choral conducting. Further studies in Orchestral Conducting will now contribute to round off an already highly accomplished set of skills and prepare her for a successful future on the musical stage. Again, we thank the Hnatyshyn Foundation for its generous support which helps us further the development of young Canadian conductors.” - Stéphane Lemelin