When and where was your first concert with the MCO?
In Ferrara with Abbado, Argerich and Blacher.

What do you need to feel at home whilst on tour?
Nothing, because being on tour kind of feels like home for me too.

Can you tell us something about your instrument?
It's the warmest instrument in the orchestra. And the most fundamental one!

What is the best thing about being a musician?
Realizing that while you're performing, you keep the human side of people alive. It's like being a doctor for the soul!

How do you spend your free time?
Kids, friends, sports, and listening to music.

BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1973 in Armenia into a family of musicians, Hayk Khachatryan began taking lessons on the violin when he was seven. He entered Erevan State Conservatory in 1990 to study contrabass with Professor Vahe Terzyan and graduated in 1997. From that time until 2001 Hayk worked on his concert and teaching diploma at the Tibor Varga Music Conservatory Sion under Professor Ferenc Bokany, with additional chamber music mentoring from Professors Tibor Varga and Gabor Takac. During this period he was the recipient of a scholarship from the Ghoukassyants Brothers Foundation.

Hayk has played as a soloist under Emin Khachatryan with the Armenian State Chamber Orchestra, with the Tibor Varga Festival Orchestra conducted by its namesake, and the Orchestra La Folia with Mirion Glass.

While still a student Hayk won first prize in the chamber music competition Valentino Bucci and has appeared, since beginning his studies, with such orchestras as the Erewan Symphony Orchestra (1990-1997), the Serenade Chamber Orchestra (1990-1997), the Armenian State Chamber Orchestra (1993-1994), the National Orchestra of Lyon (1997-2000), and the Bern Symphony Orchestra (2004-2005).

Hayk Khachatryan has been a member since 2000 of the orchestra of the Zurich Opera, since 2006 of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, since 2007 of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, and since 2009 of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. He has additionally performed in the United States, Japan, and China, and under the baton of numerous conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Franz Welzer-Möst, Daniele Gatti, and Daniel Harding.