Albanian renowned composer of Armenian origin Haig Zacharian was born on May 8, 1952, in Durrës. He received his first piano and music lessons at the primary school in his hometown. From 1969 to 1973, he studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Tirana in the composition class with Prof. Tonin Harapi.

After graduation, he worked as an artistic director of amateur ensembles in Tropojë (1973-1977). He returned to Durrës in 1977, where he continued his work with amateur ensembles at the “Rinia” palace.

Afterwards, from 1980 to 1986, he was appointed as a teacher of theoretical subjects at the “Jan Kukuzeli” School of Music in Durrës. Between 1986 and 1992, Zacharian worked as a composer in freelance creation.

In 1993, he was appointed head of the Department of Theory and Composition at the Academy of Arts in Tirana.

In his 44 years of artistic creation, Haig Zacharian has created numerous works in various genres of music (his works have been performed at all important events of Albanian musical life as well as abroad: Kosovo, Macedonia, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Spain). He has also composed songs for children, choral music, film music, and arranged many pieces of classical and romantic music for various ensembles. His musical style is distinctive, with fine nuances and a direct communication sense.

He has been awarded numerous prizes for his creativity and musical activities.

After the 1990s, his creativity, apart from films, is mainly in the genres of chamber music, where tendencies of using and experimenting in contemporary techniques of musical creation are evident.

Some of the films for which Zacharian composed music are: “The Illegals”, “The Doll of My Wedding”, “The Secret of a Night”, “Stars Over Drin”, “Beyond the Stone Walls”, “An Incident at the Port”, “The Good Man”, “Warm Hands”, “Distant Time”, “Do Not Be Silent”, “Butterfly in My Cabin”, “Murder in the Hunt”, and many others.