Washington to host Armenian Genocide centennial concert

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Genocide centennial concert in Washington, D.C. on May 8 promises to be an inspiring musical event, headlined by leading Armenian artists who have performed on some of the most legendary international stages, the Armenian Weekly reports.

The renowned participants include the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hover Chamber Choir from Armenia; singers Isabel Bayrakdarian and Hasmik Papian; violinists Levon Chilingirian, Ara Gregorian, and Ida Kavafian; pianists Sahan Arzruni and Serouj Kradjian; cellist Alexander Chaushian; clarinetist Narek Aroutyunian; oudists Onnik Dinkjian and Ara Dinkjian,; and David Gevorkian on duduk.

This extraordinary musical presentation is “an expression of rebirth and renewal, and shows that Armenians after 1915 could stand up and create an abundance of culture which is simply astounding,” the AW quoted Arzruni as saying.

The concert will concentrate on the “Triumph of Survival,” Arzruni explained. “It is special because it represents all sorts of musicians from all corners of the world, not only Armenian, but also from Europe and North America,” he said.

The concert will focus on Komitas, “the fountainhead of Armenian music who has profiled the music of centuries to come,” and will include “our musical ambassador, Aram Khachaturian, who absorbed Komitas’ music and expressed it in his unique way, a universal way, making it palatable to all nations in the world,” added Arzruni.

The program will also feature Alan Hovhaness, “the mystic of Armenian music aesthetically speaking.”

Arzruni, who is a specialist on the music of Komitas, noted that Hovhaness was “a disciple of Komitas’, and in an iconic way, he fused Middle Eastern melodies with Western technique that created a language which spoke clearly to many people, a sort of new age music.”

Also featured on the concert program will be the “Requiem” of Tigan Mansurian, whom Arzruni called the “leading composer of Armenia.” The composition was written to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, Arzruni related, and “combine[s] the canonical Latin text with the spirit of Armenian music, thus creating a work of great lyricism.”

“Music has been central to our church and in everyday life,” Chilingirian said. “From the wonderful ‘sharagans’ handed down to us through the centuries, to the unassuming folk songs which Komitas notated for posterity, we know that singing, dancing, and playing instruments nourished the souls of all Armenian communities. The therapeutic power of music is exemplified with the fact that one of the first things that Vahan Bedelian created with the newly arrived refugees in Cyprus was a choir.”

He hopes that the attendees of the Centennial concert “return to their communities strengthened by the unified nature of the commemoration. This unique gathering will, I am sure, deepen the resolve of Diasporan Armenians to nurture all aspects of music and the arts.”