PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: info@armenianprelacy.org
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
MARCH 22, 2006
MUSICAL ARMENIA 2006 PERFORMANCES RECEIVED
WITH ENTHUSIASM AND APPRECIATION
NEW YORK, NY-On Sunday afternoon, February 26, 2006, a sold-out Weill
Recital Hall audience responded with enthusiasm, appreciation, and affection
at the Armenian Prelacy’s Musical Armenia concert. The 2006 concert, the
twenty-third event in the series, featured two talented ensembles: Zulal,
an innovative a capella vocal trio comprised of Teni Apelian, Yeraz
Markarian, and Anais Alexandra Tekerian; and Duo Maestoso, a dynamic
sister-and-brother piano duo comprised of Gianeh and Ovanes Arakelyan.
The Musical Armenia program, conceived by Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian and
the Prelacy Ladies Guild in 1982, endeavors to help the artistic development
and promote the visibility of emerging Armenian performers. This year’s
event benefited from the sponsorship of Musical Armenia’s many supporters,
most notably a major contribution from the distinguished pianist Lucy
Ishkanian. Archbishop Choloyan and the Prelacy extend their deep
appreciation to Ms. Ishkanian for her sustaining generosity towards Musical
Armenia and for her multi-faceted dedication to the development of Armenian
musical artists.
At Weill Recital Hall, Zulal’s delicate renderings of Armenian folk
songs established a strong emotional connection with the audience. In
introductory remarks, the group explained the integral role of the folk
music art form in Armenian rural society, where it functioned as a means of
communicating a wide range of sentiments. The group’s carefully chosen
program made for graceful transitions from tender love songs to tributes to
the wonders of nature and tunes celebrating the promise of youth. The trio
kept the audience involved with lively descriptive interludes between the
songs.
Duo Maestoso displayed great virtuosity and command in a varied program
of nineteenth- and twentieth-century music. They performed two Liszt
compositions: a spirited caprice based on a theme from a Paganini concerto,
and the familiar Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. In the Rhapsody, the Duo
admirably met the challenge of finding its own expressive vocabulary within
the two-piano arrangement. In between the two Liszt pieces, the Duo
presented a confident performance of three sections from Saint-Saens’
Carnival of the Animals. The program also included a fine performance of the
Waltz from Khachaturian’s Masquerade Suite, one part of several pieces of
incidental music Khachaturian composed for a stage production of the play
Masquerade, by the great Russian Romantic poet Mikhail Lermontov.
ZULAL TRIO
Zulal’s arrangements are written in an organic style, enabling the group
to pay tribute to Armenia’s folk roots and, at the same time, offer
imaginative harmonies to add fresh energy to the traditional repertoire.
Formed in 2002, Zulal (which means clarity) was created when the members
began exploring their shared love of a capella singing and their affinity
for the textures of Armenian folk music.
In the past four years, Zulal’s diverse achievements include a
coast-to-coast United States tour, a performance with Cirque du Soleil,
nomination in the “Best Folk/World Album” category at the 2005 Contemporary
A Cappella Recording Awards, and recognition with “Best Newcomer” and “Best
Vocal Traditional Album” awards at the 2005 Armenian Music Awards. The group’s
list of performance venues includes the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, New York’s City Hall, the Museum of the City
of New York, and the Tsai Performance Center at Boston University.
Soprano Teni Apelian, a native of Philadelphia, graduated from Carnegie
Mellon University with a bachelors degree in professional writing and a
masters in arts management. Her affinity for a capella singing grew out of
her work in a jazz choir at CMU. Ms. Apelian has lived in various parts of
the East Coast and now resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She feels that
Zulal has brought life to her foremost passions and allowed her to explore
both spirit and sound with two talented women.
Yeraz Markarian, who is a contralto, has enjoyed singing from a young
age and was a “bass” in an all-female a cappella group while she was a
student at Columbia University’s Barnard College. A native New Yorker, Ms.
Markarian has a background in advertising and currently works in cancer
research. She is also a master’s degree student in psychology. Ms.
Markarian is proud of her contribution in interpreting Armenian folk music
and is overjoyed that an informal conversation among friends about folk
music led to the creation of Zulal.
Anaïs Alexandra Tekerian, an alto, studied theatre at Yale University,
where she sang with and directed the Yale Slavic Chorus. Originally from San
Francisco, Ms. Tekerian now lives in New York City. She performs in plays
and films in and around New York and is also active as a poet and piano
teacher. Ms. Tekerian is thrilled to be exploring the musical heritage of
her ancestors through Zulal.
DUO MAESTOSO
Gianeh and Ovanes Arakelyan studied at the University of Southern
California’s Thornton School of Music. At USC, they were each awarded
bachelor of music degrees in piano performance under the direction of
Professor Daniel Pollack. Duo Maestoso’s performances with orchestral
accompaniment include concerts with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the
Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the American Youth Symphony (AYS).
In 2004, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, the Duo
performed Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals at the AYS’s 39th Gala
Concert, under the direction of Alexander Treger. Also in 2004, Ms.
Arakelyan and Mr. Arakelyan were each awarded gold medals at the World
Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood. In a review of a recent
performance, Richard Ginell, a music critic for the Los Angeles Times,
wrote: “The Arakelyans are blessed with abundant technique, and they
displayed a graceful feeling for the flourishes and wit of the piano parts.”
Duo Maestoso’s list of performance venues includes the John Anson Ford
Amphitheatre in Hollywood, the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, the
Florence Gould Theatre at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in
San Francisco, and the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan. In 2005,
the Duo performed at the Las Vegas Music Festival and they will appear in
the Las Vegas Chamber Music Concert Series during the 2005-06 season.
A compact disc by Duo Maestoso, a recording dedicated to the centenary
of Aram Khachaturian, earned very favorable reviews. In summer 2004, the
disc was recognized as the “compact disc of the season” by music critics in
Portland, Oregon. The recording’s debut was held at the House-Museum of Aram
Khachaturian in Yerevan, where the Duo had the honor to perform on the
composer’s own grand piano, which had not been touched for thirty years. An
upcoming compact disc will feature well-known compositions for two pianos,
including Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Bizet’s “Los Toreadors” from
Carmen, selections from Carnival of the Animals, and the “Sabre Dance” from
the Khachaturian’s ballet Gayane.