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PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
AGBU WRAPS UP KHACHATURIAN CENTENNIAL TOUR WITH FINAL NEW YORK SCREENING
NEW YORK, NY – In recognition of Aram Khachaturian’s Centennial
Anniversary, AGBU has organized a series of concerts and film
screenings based on the works of the renowned composer. The final leg
of this multi-country tour will conclude in New York City on Tuesday,
May 18, 2004 at 7:30 pm with the viewing of a documentary, to take
place in Tinker Hall of The French Institute Alliance Française
(FIAF). FIAF is located at 22 East 60th Street, between Park and
Madison Avenues.
Master pianist, Sahan Arzruni, who has led AGBU’s international
Centennial tour, discovered the existence of this original film and
located the sole copy in Armenia. Mr. Arzruni then obtained permission
from the Ministry of Culture to reproduce the decades-old reels onto a
digital format in order to make it available for mass viewing.
After reviewing the original 50-minute black-and white documentary,
Mr. Arzruni decided to re-record the sound track precisely so that
today’s audiences would understand all the footage, some of which
dates back to the 1930s. “After placing the spoken words, written by
the eminent poet, Gevorg Emin, in the exact places as the original
film, I then retrieved some of Khachaturian’s most winning
compositions from the Armenian State Radio archives and added them to
the sound track. In fact, Khachaturian even conducted these
performances, as well,” explains Mr. Arzruni. English sub-titles were
added for the benefit of those not familiar with the Armenian
language. Eventually, the material was reconstructed, remixed and
remastered to achieve a film of high audio and video imaging quality.
The film also contains many wonderful insights by Khachaturian about
music in general, and his compositions in particular. These segments
were taken from a twenty-three hour interview conducted with the
composer shortly before his death. The original interview, in which
Khachaturian expresses his views on music, is housed at the
Khachaturian Museum in Armenia.
The New York viewing will wrap-up AGBU’s Khachaturian Centennial
celebrations, which started in Los Angeles and continued globally in
some two-dozen cities. Audience members that evening will enjoy the
film screening, presented by Mr. Arzruni, and a reception afterward.
Tickets are $10 each on a first come-first serve basis, and may be
reserved by calling the AGBU Central Office at 212.319.6383.