Levon first conducted Rehearsal Orchestra in May 2000 and was appointed Artistic Director to succeed Harry Legge in April 2002. Levon's first musical influence was his father, the renowned violinist Manoug Parikian. While studying timpani and percussion at the Royal Academy of Music, Levon developed his interest in conducting, and subsequently studied privately with Michael Rose and David Parry. Following further study with George Hurst, and at his encouragement, Levon auditioned successfully for a position in Ilya Musin’s class at the St Petersburg conservatoire, gaining an insight into Musin’s rigorous technique of conducting, which has influenced generations of Russian conductors. Since his return from Russia, Levon has pursued a freelance conducting career, and is much in demand as a guest conductor with orchestras in Britain. He currently holds Principal Conductor posts with several London-based orchestras and is Principal Conductor of the City of Oxford Orchestra. He is also very committed to training young musicians and has worked extensively with students and youth orchestras. In 2012, Levon conducted the UK premiere of Armen Tigranian's opera ‘Anoush’ with London Armenian Opera. In 2014 he conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra in a re-recording of the theme tune for 'Hancock's Half Hour' for lost episodes recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Levon conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra again, along with violinist Jack Liebeck, for ‘Raptures’, the debut orchestral album of composer Stuart Hancock, released in November 2019. Lev has a parallel career as a writer, and his latest book ‘Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing’, published in May 2023, was shortlisted for the 2023 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. He also writes regularly for The Guardian's Country Diary.