AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: press@agbu.org
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

NYSEC Showcases Young Performing Artists at Carnegie Hall, Raises Close
to $40,000 for AGBU Scholarships

On Saturday, October 24, 2009, the AGBU New York Special Events
Committee (NYSEC) held its second AGBU Performing Artists in Concert,
which showcased the talents of a group of outstanding young Armenian
musicians. The sold-out event was held at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital
Hall in Manhattan.

As with the inaugural concert held last year, this celebration of music
saluted the impressive artistic achievements attained by the various
performers in their respective fields. The featured musicians were all
recipients of AGBU scholarships towards their studies in the performing
arts, which has allowed them to be educated at some of the world’s most
well-respected and prestigious conservatories and universities,
including the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Komitas State
Conservatory, Yale University, Mannes College of Music, Boston
Conservatory, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the
Royal College of Music. The success of last year’s Debut Concert allowed
NYSEC to contribute to future Performing Arts grants. Thanks to the
generosity of AGBU’s family of friends and the Armenian community at
large, this year’s benefit performance raised close to $40,000 for the
newly established AGBU Performing Arts Fellowship Program. "It gives me
great pleasure to contribute to your organization and to actually
experience the talented musicians it helps support and promote. Bravo!"
expressed notable benefactor Paul Khoury.

Under the artistic direction of brothers Hrant and Kevork Parsamian,
twelve performers collaborated to prepare a distinguished repertoire of
music celebrating Armenian and other classical composers, including
Babajanian, Khachaturian, Shostakovich, and Schumann. The concert also
featured the US premiere of 19-year-old Gevork Badalian’s composition
based on five folk songs from the Armenian Genocide, compiled by Verjine
Svazlian. Residing in Armenia, the young Badalian has won the top prize
at the Ghazaros Sarian Competition, and his works have been performed at
various Armenian festivals. Svazlian is an ethnographer and folklorist
who has dedicated her life to finding and documenting memoirs and songs
of historical characters narrated by eyewitness survivors of the
Armenian Genocide.

The twelve performing artists were comprised of three violinists: Monika
Chamasyan of Virginia, Nazig Tchakarian of New York, and Viktoria
Tchertchian of Massachusetts; two cellists: Hrant and Kevork Parsamian,
both of New York; two violists: Aleksandr Nazaryan of New York and
Anoush Simonian of New Jersey; two pianists: Marina Chamasyan of
Virginia and Varta Tchakarian of New York; a flutist: Stepan Dadourian
of New York; a marimbist: Sylvie Zakarian of Massachusetts; and an opera
singer: soprano Natalie Aroyan of Sydney, Australia.

The event was organized by the AGBU NYSEC Committee, chaired by Nila
Festekjian and Sossy Setrakian, and included Anita Anserian, Carol
Aslanian, Betty Cherkezian, Maral Hajjar, Hilda Hartounian, Maral
Jebejian, Gacia Mangassarian, Vesna Markarian, and Vera Setrakian.
Performing Artists in Concert contributors included graphic designer
Alex Basmagian and coordinator Natalie Gabrelian of the AGBU Central
Office.

NYSEC committee member and AGBU Central Board Member Carol Aslanian
noted the importance of the concert in raising awareness about AGBU’s
Scholarship Program and the AGBU Performing Arts Fellowship Program in
particular. "I think the audience was thrilled to see the range of
talent among these extraordinary students." She continued to comment on
the overall evening and audience, which was attended by AGBU President
Berge Setrakian and his wife Vera, as well as Ambassador Garen Nazarian,
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United
Nations, and his wife Siranoush. "I think it was a wonderful opportunity
to have such an extraordinary audience. We had many leaders of the
Armenian community and people active in various organizations, and I
think these young people were very proud to display their talents to
such a prestigious audience, who in turn will want to find and develop
further ways to assist talented and motivated youth. So to them, this
really was a gesture of future opportunity."

In addition to its mission to raise awareness among the public, the
event also offered a rare opportunity for performers to work with fellow
musicians and reconnect with their cultural roots. Performer Sylvie
Zakarian, who plays the marimba and is originally from Bulgaria, shared
her sentiments on the evening. "It’s always very exciting to play in
front of an Armenian audience, and since my instrument is not very
popular among Armenians, I was so grateful for the opportunity. I felt
the audience was coming along for the experience. It was so wonderful to
be on stage in front of such a receptive group of people." She also
commented on the AGBU Scholarship Fund, adding, "AGBU was instrumental
in helping me with the scholarship and with my decision on whether I
could make it in the United States. I am entirely grateful to AGBU, they
have been wonderful, and there are so many others who have similar
stories to mine and feel the same way."

For decades, AGBU scholarships have been awarded to tens of thousands of
talented students of Armenian descent who are studying in the performing
arts and have demonstrated excellence in their chosen fields. These
awards enable recipients to reach their potential, laying the foundation
for their future, as they celebrate their heritage and identity. Those
who would like to make a contribution to the AGBU Performing Arts
Fellowship Program to help sustain and support the enhancement of future
Armenian musicians may contact AGBU by phone, 212-319-6383, or email,
scholarship@agbu.org.

Established in 2003, NYSEC is committed to upholding AGBU’s mission to
preserve and promote the Armenian identity and heritage in the Greater
New York region through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian program, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.