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The 4th Vahagn Stamboltsyan International Organ Music Festival kicked off on September 26 at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall, on the birthday of Komitas Vardapet.
In keeping with tradition, the festival’s opening concert was dedicated to Komitas and also featured works from different periods of Armenian and world music.
Before the concert, welcoming remarks were delivered by Armen Sukiasyan, Deputy Artistic Director of the National Centre of Chamber Music and founder and artistic director of the festival.
Speaking about the festival’s history, he noted that the first international festival was held in 2022 with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia and on the initiative of the National Centre of Chamber Music. The festival’s goals include promoting interest in organ art in Armenia, preserving and developing the traditions of the school founded by Vahagn Stamboltsyan, encouraging performers of the new generation, and expanding international professional ties.
According to Armen Sukiasyan, organ art in Armenia has developed further in recent years and has also attracted the attention of the international professional community. Offers to participate in the festival from different countries around the world attest to this interest.
Organists Harutyun Tagvoryan, Tereza Voskanyan, Armen Aghajanyan, Karine Hovhannisyan, Anna Arustamyan and Davit Hovhannisyan performed at the opening concert. Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia and soprano Irina Zakyan, flutist Hasmik Harutyunyan, cellist Andranik Aghajanyan, and musicians of the Gurdjieff Ensemble, led by artistic director Levon Eskenyan, also took part.
The evening’s program featured works by Komitas, Grigor Narekatsi, Eduard Baghdasaryan, Gary Kesayan, Mikael Tariverdiev, Arthur Avanesov and Eduard Hayrapetyan. A special highlight was the premiere performance of Hayrapetyan’s “Sharakans,” a work based on the sharakans (hymns) of Nerses Shnorhali.
The 4th International Organ Music Festival named after Vahagn Stamboltsyan will continue through December 5, presenting concert and special programs in Yerevan, Kapan and Charentsavan.
Concerts featuring internationally renowned organists are scheduled, including Swiss organist and composer Guy Bovet, Serbian organist Milkica Radovanovic, who is based in Norway, and Japanese organist Hiroko Inoue.
Anniversary concerts will also be held dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the birth of Makar Yekmalyan, the 95th anniversary of the birth of Mikael Tariverdiev, and the 270th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.