Maestro Domenico Boyagian, Music Director of Cleveland Opera Theater and Suburban Symphony Orchestra, has been praised as a “born conductor” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and has dedicated himself to symphonic music and opera. Producing performances of compelling artistry and beauty, Boyagian “appears to be a conductor for whom the music is the sole point of standing before musicians.” (The Plain Dealer)
As Music Director, Maestro Boyagian has made Cleveland Opera Theater the primary destination for opera audiences in northeast Ohio, providing what “Cleveland has endured so long without.” (The Plain Dealer) Recent seasons under Boyagian’s leadership featured canonical works such as Puccini’s La Boheme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, Verdi’s La Traviata, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia, and Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, as well as the world premiere of Margaret Brouwer’s oratorio Voice of the Lake with Blue Streak Ensemble.
Boyagian will lead Suburban Symphony Orchestra in their 70th season. His repertoire in the '23-'24 season embraces symphonic works by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Respighi, Vaughan Williams, Delius, and Brahms. A major highlight of his tenure as Music Director is the “Beethoven Cycle” initiative. The orchestra will play all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies, culminating with performances of the incomparable 9th Symphony in Severance Hall in the spring 2025. Aside from his duties with Suburban Symphony, this season Maestro Boyagian has conducted productions with Opera Delaware and Florentine Opera, as well as a concert with the Delaware Symphony. Past seasons include collaboration with Florida Grand Opera, Opera Delaware, Opera North, Opera Southwest, and the Manhattan School of Music. He has performed with the Milwakee Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Palm Beach Symphony, National Symphony of Costa Rica, Bulgarian Festival Orchestra, Sofia Orchestra, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra.
As Music Director of the Ohio Philharmonic, he received accolades for his recording with Centaur Records, featuring Italian pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi: “full of muscle and fire where it counts.” (The Plain Dealer) Performing selections of Edvard Grieg, “the soloist and conductor Boyagian maintained such close contact that the score unfolded with seamless vibrancy.” (Donald Rosenberg, The Plain Dealer)
Born and raised in Bologna, Italy, Maestro Boyagian is the proud son of internationally renowned Metropolitan Opera Verdi Baritone, the late Garbis Boyagian, who inspired his son’s innate passion for opera and appreciation for vocal artists. In 2000 Boyagain came to the USA to further his musical studies, after receiving diplomas from Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and Conservatorio “G.I. Martini” in Bologna, Italy; and he holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and California State University, Northridge. In recognition of his burgeoning talent, Boyagian was named “one of 10 most successful Italians in the U.S.” by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce in New York City, and is a “Most Distinguished Artist” Grant Recipient from the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture in Cleveland, Ohio.
