The Komitas medal by His Holiness Vazgen I, Surpreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church
In 1957 he settled in Armenia at the invitation of Catholicos Vazgen I, and in 1959-65 and 1972-1974 he was conductor of the Armenian State Philharmonic Society.
A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy.
Being a young sculptor, in 1964, Suren Nazaryan received permission from Catholicos of All Armenians, Vazgen I, to create the bas-reliefs of the five most important and famous cathedrals of Armenian architecture (St. Hripsime, Etchmiadzin, Zvartnots, Holy Cross Akhthamar, and Ani) for the throne hall of Catholicos’s residence.