ARMENIAN PIANIST PLAYS IN FRESNO

Fresno Bee
Sept 17 2009
CA

This is called planning ahead: Almost 10 years ago, Andreas Werz –
the artistic director of the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts
series – traveled to Yerevan, Armenia. There he hung out with Aram
Gharabekian, conductor of the Armenian Chamber Orchestra, who asked
Werz whether he’d like to tag along at an audition of an astounding
young pianist.

Werz agreed, and after listening to the 12-year-old girl play, he
was impressed. Her name: Nareh Arghamanyan.

"That’s how I heard her for the first time," Werz says.

Fast forward to today. Arghamanyan, now 20, is the opening artist
for the new season of the highly regarded Keyboard Concerts series
at California State University, Fresno.

In 2008, Arghamanyan was the first-prize winner at the 2008 Montreal
International Music Competition.

When Werz heard about the honor, he knew she’d be a great pianist
to bring in for the series, which prides itself both on presenting
well-known veteran performers and up-and-coming artists.

Arghamanyan is a graduate of the esteemed Vienna Music Conservatory and
has already appeared in major venues in the United States, Russia,
Germany, France and Switzerland. A recent review in the Salt Lake
Tribune declared that she "is destined to have a major international
career."

Her performance is co-sponsored by Fresno State’s Armenian Studies
Program.

Arghamanyan will perform works by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Rachmaninoff
and Tchaikovsky/Pletnev.

For Werz, the concert will remind him of a talented girl that he
heard a long time ago, half a world away.

"I wasn’t going to forget her," he says.

CONCERT INFO Nareh Arghamanyan, 8 p.m. Friday, Fresno State Concert
Hall. Tickets: $18, $12 seniors, $5 student.