Vache Sharafyan was born in 1966 in Yerevan, Armenia. In 1990, Mr. Sharafyan graduated with distinction from the Yerevan State Conservatory's Composition Department. In 1992, he received his post-graduate education in composition, studying with Eduard Mirzoyan, and won the All-Union Composers' Competition in 1985 in Moscow. From 1992 to 1996 Mr. Sharafyan taught as a professor of music theory and sacred music at the Jerusalem Theological Armenian Seminary in Israel, and authored a Book of Chants for Holy Sepulchre Church, Jerusalem.
As an official composer for the Silk Road Project since 2001, his compositions The Morning Scent of the Acacia's Song for duduk and string quartet (as well as a version for duduk, soprano and string orchestra) and The Sun, the Wine and the Wind of Time for duduk, violin, cello, and piano were performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, the Brussels Philharmonic Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Carnegie (Stern) Hall, Carnegie (Zankel) Hall, Berkeley, Stanford University, the Seattle Benaroya Hall, the Washington National Mall, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, in addition to performances in Rome, Florence, and Milan.
Mr. Sharafyan has composed a number of chamber, symphonic, choral, and vocal compositions. His 2007 world premieres included his Viola Concerto, Surgite Gloriae, with duduk, boy soprano, baritone, and orchestra, performed by Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists at the Elba Isola Festival and in the Moscow Conservatory Grand Hall Philharmonic season opening, My Lofty Moon for five eastern and eight western instruments with the Atlas Ensemble at Amsterdam Muziekgebouw, 11 Arrangements & Transcriptions by Komitas with G. Dabaghyan and NCOA at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, Quintetto quasi Concerto per pianoforte e archi with Movses Pogossian and the LA Symphony principals at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles, and On Wings of Hymnal, No. 3 and 4 for two cellos (with singing parts) with Suren Bagratuni and Ling-Yi Ou Yang in Taipei.
Sharafyan's compositions have been performed in Armenia, Israel, the United States, France, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Lebanon, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Thailand, Hungary, Switzerland, Taiwan, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Sweden, and he is currently teaching composition at the Yerevan State Conservatory.