Bolshoi Conductor Defects

WASHINGTON — A conductor of the Soviet Union’s Bolshoi opera defected in Bolivia earlier this month and has been granted asylum in the United States, State Department officials said today.

Ruben Vartanan, described as one of four or five conductors associated with the Bolshoi, turned up at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz about two weeks ago and has since arrived in Washington. He is scheduled to appear at a news conference Thursday. One official said Vartanan defected while on vacation but the Jamestown Foundation, a private group that assists defectors and has arranged for the news conference, said the artist went to the U.S. Embassy while on a concert tour.