[3] After graduating from The Juilliard School in New York, he embarked on a career as a concert pianist appearing with major symphony orchestras throughout the U.S., U.K., Europe, and the Soviet Union.

[7] Orbelian has been principal conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra[8] in Lithuania since 2014, and in 2016 he also became General and artistic director of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Yerevan, Armenia.

[9] His appointment in June 2021 to the leadership posts at New York City Opera is a landmark in efforts to revive the company's performance profile.

From his 1995 performance at the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the United Nations in San Francisco[11] to his 2004 performance at the U.S. State Department commemorating 70 years of diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow, and a repeat State Department appearance in 2007,[12] all with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Orbelian continues to use his artistic eminence in the cause of international goodwill.

Orbelian's collaborations with Hvorostovsky also included recordings of sentimental songs in Moscow Nights[16] and Wait for Me,[17] and Verdi's Simon Boccanegra.