An Armenian Trilogy, a new documentary about Dan Yessian’s journey from advertising music creator to writing his first classical composition in honor of the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, has been released on Amazon. In addition, his three-movement classical composition, “An Armenian Trilogy–Live in Yerevan,” performed by the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, is now available on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. This concert is also included as bonus footage at the end of the film. Yessian is the founder of Yessian Music Inc., an international music and sound company responsible for creating original music for TV commercials and programs, movie trailers, video games, theme parks and memorials, including the One World Observatory at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City.
“When my Armenian church priest asked me to create a piece of music to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, it proved to be a life changing request. I discovered the path my ancestors had taken during this dark time and I began to tell their story through music, then ultimately film,” said Yessian, who is Armenian-American. His film, in surround sound and closed-captioned in English, has been shown at festivals throughout the U.S. and has won numerous awards including Best Score, Audience Choice and Exceptional Merit.
The Armenian Genocide, when 1.5 million Armenian citizens were massacred by the Turkish Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1922, made headlines in December 2019 when the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to recognize the mass killings as genocide and then again mid-February, 2020, when the Syrian Parliament also recognized the massacres as genocide.
Yessian initially wrote “An Armenian Trilogy” as a duet arrangement for violin and piano creating three movements: The Freedom, The Fear and The Faith, which debuted in Michigan in 2015. Yessian then took on the immense task of orchestrating his composition for 91 pieces, which was performed at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall by the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in Armenia in 2017.
The documentary film, An Armenian Trilogy, follows Yessian through his childhood as a budding clarinet player, the early years of his company which was started in a 200-square-foot bait shop in metro Detroit, through to the success of the international company he heads with offices in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City and Hamburg, Germany. The film centers on Yessian’s visit to his ancestral homeland of Armenia, where he and his family explore their rich heritage and the composer hears, for the first time, his composition performed by a full orchestra.
Yessian was inducted into the 2018 Adcraft Hall of Fame in Detroit and was recognized for Lifetime Achievement at the Detroit Music awards in 2016. Nowadays, he can be found working alongside his sons Brian and Michael, on campaigns for companies such as United Airlines, Ford Motor Company, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Nintendo, Disney, Walmart, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz. Yessian Music has also provided music for many television shows including NBC’s Sunday Night Football, The Voice and America’s Got Talent, ESPN’s College Football and all Major League Baseball, A&E’s Veteran’s Day with A&E and Live PD, PBS’ Sesame Street and other themes and promos on channels including NBC, Disney Channel, HGTV, Lifetime, PBS and CBC. This year Yessian was responsible for preparing a 360 audio experience for Aerosmith’s Las Vegas residency.