Armenpress

YEGHISHE CHARENTS MUSEUM TO OPEN ALAN HOVHANNES STUDIES CENTER

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS: The director of Yeghishe Charents Museum
in Yerevan, Henrik Bakhshinian, told Armenpress that after a major repair
the museum, which features the life and the works of prominent Armenian
poet, will open a special center for studying the legacy of
American-Armenian composer Alan Hovhaness.
Alan Hovhannes became acclaimed for his talent to meld Western and Asian
musical styles creating a unique melodic blend of his own. He died in June
2000 at the age 89.
Hovhaness wrote more than 400 pieces, including at least nine operas, two
ballets, more than 60 symphonies, and more than 100 chamber pieces.
He was born Alan Vaness Chamakjian, in Somerville, Massachusetts, in
1911. His mother was Scottish and his father, an Armenian chemistry
professor.
His early compositions were thoroughly Western. But the influences of
Eastern musical styles became more evident after he attended Bohuslav
Martinu’s master class in composition in 1942 at the Berkshire Music Center
at Tanglewood.
Hovhaness was the first Western composer asked to write music for an
orchestra comprised entirely of Indian instruments.