Zaven Melikian is recognized nationally as an artist, teacher and a leading expert in string pedagogy.

As professor of violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1969, and now Professor Emeritus, he trained an extraordinary group of violinists at the Preparatory and Collegiate level who may be found among the ranks of major symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles in the United States and abroad.

Mr. Melikian began playing the violin at age seven. As an accomplished artist he graduated with a License de Concert from Ecole Normale de Music in Paris, France, where he studied with Yvonne Astruc.

Before coming to the United States, he performed extensively throughout France, Italy, Egypt, Lebanon and his native Yugoslavia. Mr. Melikian was a member of the San Francisco Symphony for twenty-three years, serving as Assistant Concertmaster for the last fifteen years of his tenure. In 1977 he was appointed Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the post from which he retired in 1994. On that occasion he was awarded the prestigious San Francisco Opera Medal. In May 1998, he retired from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, receiving an honorary Doctor of Music degree.