‘FOR YOU, ARMENIA’: CONCERT AT HOLY CROSS TO BENEFIT RELIEF FUND
By Richard Price

Worcester Telegram
NEWS/904150404/1011
April 14 2009

WORCESTER — This Sunday afternoon, the newly built Seelos Theatre
at the College of the Holy Cross will host a concert of musicians
playing instruments unfamiliar to most Americans to benefit a country
most can’t find on a map in remembrance of a genocide some historians
consider forgotten.

Creating awareness has been the mission of Holy Cross senior Ani
Nalbandian, 22, since her freshman year. She is one of only 15
Armenian-American students in the entire college so the learning
curve is steep. "I’m hoping to generate a feeling of solidarity,"
said Ms. Nalbandian, when asked about the goal of holding this concert.

How? With expectations that the non Armenian-American audience will
walk in expecting a new musical experience but walk out connecting
with a little known culture that is centered around the 1915 Armenian
genocide that wiped out over one million people during and after
World War I.

April is an important month to Armenians, Ms. Nalbandian said,
because the 24th is also Genocide Remembrance Day, a memorial day
for those wiped out as a war strategy by the Ottoman Empire to defeat
the Russians.

The show is titled "Pour Toi, Arménie (For You, Armenia)," and
proceeds will go to the Fund for Armenian Relief, an organization
that provides emergency help to the neediest of this small post-Soviet
Union nation that borders Turkey.

John Berberian, the concert’s headline act, will provide the musical
link between the two worlds. As he pulls out his Turkish-made oud
(pronounced OOD), and runs his hands over the mahogany and spruce
wood body, he talks about the similarities between the Middle Eastern
music he has performed for 49 years and American jazz. "There is a
lot of improvisation in our music," he said. "Just like jazz."

The oud’s body has a pregnant bulge similar to a mandolin. It has a
bent neck at the top where the pegs that tighten the strings lie. When
played it sounds similar to a Spanish acoustic guitar. Mr. Berberian
and his ensemble will perform a blend of traditional Armenian dance and
folk pieces. Mal Barsamian will accompany him on guitar and clarinet,
with Harry Bedrosian on keyboard, and Bruce Gigarjian on Dumbeg,
which is an hourglass-shaped drum, played like a tom tom.

In a separate set, Ms. Nalbandian will perform on keyboard and
accordion with her father, Untzag Nalbandian, who is an Armenian
Orthodox priest as well as a pianist. They will be accompanied by
fellow Holy Cross students Justin Rucci on drums, David Sheerin on
piano, Michael Ferraguto on violin and Michael Simms on clarinet.

The concert will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Seelos Theatre
on the Holy Cross campus. There is a handful of tickets left for
this event, which are $15 for adults and children older than 12,
$10 for Holy Cross students and children younger than 12. For
ticket information, contact Ms. Nalbandian at (203) 581-1443 or
analba09@holycross.edu.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress