Edward (Edouard) Yerwant Torokian is an associate professor of musicology at the School of Music and Performing Arts (SMPA), affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Having joined USEK in 1986 as a teacher of counterpoint, harmony, solfeggio, and music theory, he currently serves as the Head of the Higher and Specialized Music Education Programs and as a member of the SMPA Council.

His research interests include both musicology science and music composition. Specialized in Armenian and Syriac sacred music, he has developed and taught various musicology courses, spanning musical forms analysis, comprehensive analysis, organology, instrumentation, orchestration, Armenian chant, and other topics. As an experienced music composer, he teaches classical harmony courses at the SMPA, as well as private courses in counterpoint, fugue, contemporary harmony, and composition at the Music Academy.

Edward has co-authored two music theory books (PUSEK, Kaslik, 2015 and 2024) and several musical collections and articles, like the Hymnal of the Bzommar Monastery Traditional Liturgy (Bzommar, Kesrouan, 2007). In addition to his many compositions and orchestrations (Occidental, Arabic, and Armenian music), he has arranged in polyphony for a cappella choirs more than two hundred Arabic songs, composed even in maqam-s with lowered tones. In 2019, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) awarded him the top prize in ethnic music arrangement.

His diverse culture has earned him invitations to give lectures in Lebanon, Egypt (Opera House of Cairo), Spain (Gerona), Hungary (Pècs), and the United States (Kansas City).

EDUCATION

• PhD in Musicology, USEK – Lebanon
• MA in Musicology, USEK – Lebanon
• BA in Musicology, USEK – Lebanon