The Russian National Orchestra was founded in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. Maintaining an active international schedule, the RNO appears in the music capitals of Europe, Asia and the Americas, is a frequent guest at festivals such as Edinburgh, the BBC Proms and presents the RNO Grand Festival each September to open the Moscow season. Their discography, launched with a highly praised 1991 recording of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique, now numbers more than 80 critically acclaimed recordings. Notable releases include the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos on Deutsche Grammophon, Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies for Pentatone, and the RNO Shostakovich project, also on Pentatone, cited as “the most exciting cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies to be put down on disc, and easily the best recorded” (SACD.net). Their recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Beintus' Wolf Tracks, conducted by Kent Nagano and narrated by Sophia Loren, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, received a 2004 Grammy Award, making the RNO the first Russian orchestra to win the recording industry's highest honor.  Their recording of Shostakovich Symphony No. 7, conducted by Paavo Järvi, was awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2015 as the year's best symphonic album, and was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award.

Eduard Topchjan studied violin at the Yerevan Conservatory and went on to study conducting with the prominent Armenian conductor Ohan Durian, followed by valuable consultations from Sir George Solti, Claudio Abbado, and Nello Santi.Topchjan made his début with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000. The same year he was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the ANPO.Eduard Topchjan appears with such celebrated artists as Placido Domingo, Pinchas Zukerman, Renato Bruson, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Yuri Bashmet, Tibor Varga, Sergei Nakariakov, Boris Berezovsky, Sergey Khachatryan, Julia Fischer, Isabelle Faust, Sergei Babayan, Konstantin Lifschitz, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Alexei Lyubimov, Mario Brunello, Kirill Gerstein, Kolja Blacher, Sergei Krylov, Fabio Zanon, Simon Trpceski, and Alexander Chaushian, among others. As a guest conductor he has performed with many important orchestras in Europe, the U. S. and Asia, among them the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, orchestras of Kölner Philharmonie and Frankfurt Oper, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Hungarian National Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Gulbenkian Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma.