Resisting categorization, his style and integrity has transcended musical boundaries over the years: recording sessions with Elton John, George Harrison & Andrew Lloyd Webber; jazz at Ronnie Scott’s Club; jazz-rock-fusion with Soft Machine; award-winning ad soundtracks (Levis, Boots No7, Audi.); scoring a Kiefer Sutherland movie; ‘cast-away’ on the iconic BBC “Desert Island Discs”; featured by Melvyn Bragg on the seminal ITV South Bank Show; awarded the Freedom of the Cities of London and Swansea.

Adiemus (1995) and The Armed Man (2000) were pivotal to his future oeuvre in that he continued to progress ideas seen in these works; peace, multiculturism and the use of indigenous or ethnic text and instrumentation, alongside the traditional sacred Latin text and western orchestra: Requiem, Stabat Mater, Gloria, Te Deum, Miserere, The Peacemakers.

Other works include the popular piece for strings orchestra, Palladio, Quirk, Cantata Memoria (for the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster) and Miserere. All the works above, now available on Decca, attained number one status in the UK Classical chart. He has 17 ‘gold and platinum’ discs for his output overall.

He has been invited to compose music for HRH The Prince of Wales, Sir Bryn Terfel, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Lesley Garrett CBE, Rolando Villazon, Milos and the London Symphony Orchestra.

He has released albums on all major classical labels and is currently a Decca Records artist, while he has performed regularly with major UK orchestras (LSO, LPO, RPO, Philharmonia) and The World Orchestra For Peace. His music has taken him to such far flung venues as: The Royal Albert Hall, London; Zaryadye Concert Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall, New York; The Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing; The National Centre of Performing Arts; Mumbai; Buckingham Palace.

A Doctor of Music (D.Mus), he has held Fellowships, Honorary Doctorates and Professorships at five universities or conservatoires, including the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM), where a room has been named after him.

Among the many honours he has received, in the UK and internationally, are: OBE 2005, CBE 2010, two BAFTA Cymru awards. The Hopkins Medal (St. David’s Society of the State of New York), Cymru For the World, and he has been personally decorated by the Presidents of Hungary and Kosovo. He received a knighthood in The Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours List.

In 2004 he entered Classic FM’s ‘Hall of Fame” at No8, the highest position for a living composer, as well as in 2006 ranking No4 amongst all time British composers. In 2015, he was confirmed as the most popular living composer in Classic FM’s ‘Ultimate Hall of Fame’.

“As a composer he recognises no boundaries – musical, commercial, geographical, or cultural. His is a way of thinking and composing that is perfectly in tune with the spirit of the times” – citation on receiving CFM’s ‘Red f ‘award for ‘outstanding service to classical music’

2014 saw the inaugural ‘The Arts Club - Sir Karl Jenkins Music Award in association with Classic FM’, established to help young musicians entering the profession.

In 2019 he was sculpted live by the Royal Sculptor, Frances Segelman, as a charity event for the RAM.

His memoir, “Still with the music”, is published by Elliott & Thompson and his music is exclusively published by Boosey and Hawkes.

Karl is married to composer/educationalist Carol Barratt (author of the Chester Piano Books) who has also written text for her husband (www.carolbarratt.co.uk), while their son is a film and media composer (www.jodyjenkinsmusic.com) whose wife, Rosie plays oboe in the LSO.

Karl has recently completed a saxophone concerto for Jess Gillam (yet to be premiered due to COVID) and during the pandemic, highlights from The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and Adiemus were performed by the virtual ‘Stay At Home Choir’ with over seven thousand singers drawn from 73 countries.

During its history, the Choir has toured to the US, England, France, Spain, Switzerland, Lebanon, Syria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and many other countries. 

Series of CD recordings have been released with the Choir's performances, one of them winning the “Grand Prix” in Paris. 
Mastery of the Academic Choir and its conductor has been highly praised in the press.

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor: Ohannes Tchekidjian.

The ASSO has worked with Valery Gergiev, Krzysztof Penderecki, Vladimir Spivakov, Maxim Vengerov, Denis Matsuev, Vadim Repin, Vag Papyan, Boris Berezovsky and many others.

The ASSO has performed in numerous venues both in Armenia and elsewhere. World-famous concert halls have hosted the ASSO including but not limited to concert halls in Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, China, The Netherlands, Italy, Lebanon, etc. The musicians have performed in Opera Garnier (Paris), Konzerthaus (Berlin), The Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Musikverein (Vienna), Dubai Opera House, Teatro Real (Madrid), Dr. Anton Philipszaal (Hague), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), P. Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Concert Hall and Conservatory Great Concert Hall (Moscow), etc. ASSO's concerts have been broadcasted by Medici.tv, Euronews, and Classic fm.

The Orchestra has taken part in numerous international festivals, to name a few, “Moscow Easter Festival” (Moscow, Russia), “YOUNG EURO CLASSIC'' (Berlin, Germany), "Kultursommer Nordhessen" (Kassel, Germany), "Young Classic Wratislavia" (Wroclaw, Poland), Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, and many others. In addition, the ASSO has been the resident orchestra at the Aram Khachaturian International Competition (since 2007) and performed as a resident orchestra at the Musica Riva International Festival (2013, Riva del Garda, Italy), the 9th Frederic Chopin International Competition for Young Pianists (2014, Foshan, China), the Al Bustan International Festival (2014-2016, Beirut, Lebanon), Malta International Music Festival (2018), etc. In 2019, the Orchestra performed Nino Rota's original score from “The Godfather” and John Williams' music from “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” under the baton of American composer/conductor Justin Freer in Dubai Opera House.

The orchestra has got a rich portfolio of interesting musical projects and charitable events both in Armenia and overseas. Since 2010, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra with the support of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport has been holding the annual Armenian Composers' Art Festival and since 2013, the yearly Khachaturian International Festival. The ASSO continually presents new exciting projects, such as concert series entitled “Hollywood Non-Stop,” “Cartoon Non-Stop,” “Tours to...”, “ASSO Meets” and others. Another fantastic project is the regular series “Master Creates Masters.” Within this project, the younger musicians get the chance to take master classes from world-famous masters such as Valery Gergiev, Zakhar Bron, and others. Since 2018 the Orchestra has been implementing the valuable educational-cultural project DasA with the support of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. 

The extensive repertoire of the Orchestra ranges from classical to contemporary music. In 2011 the Orchestra, headed by the artistic director and principal conductor Sergey Smbatyan, released its first CD entitled Music is the Answer. Recorded at Sony recording studio, the CD includes works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Eduard Hayrapetyan.