NYSEC Concert to Showcase 12 Young Performing Artists and Premiere by 19-Year-Old Composer

Celebrating the music of Armenian and classical composers, the upcoming AGBU Performing Artists in Concert program will be presented at New York's Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (154 West 57th Street) on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 8:30 p.m. Organized by the AGBU New York Special Events Committee (NYSEC), this benefit for the AGBU Performing Arts Fellowship Program will showcase, under the artistic direction of Hrant and Kevork Parsamian, the talents of 12 young Armenian musicians, all of whom are AGBU scholarship recipients in the field of music.

In addition to well-known works of acclaimed composers such as Khachaturian, Babajanian, Shostakovich and Schumann, the concert program will feature the U.S. 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 also been performed at Armenian festivals. Svazlian is an ethnographer and folklorist who has dedicated her life to finding and documenting various folkloristic creations communicated by repatriates forcibly deported from their homeland, as well as memoirs and songs of historical character narrated by eyewitness survivors of the Armenian Genocide. She currently is a leading researcher at the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the National Academy of Sciences in Yerevan, Armenia.

For tickets and information, call AGBU 212-319-6383 ext.124. To purchase tickets directly through the Carnegie Box Office, call CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 or visit www.carnegiehall.org. Tickets for orchestra and balcony seats are $65.

Biographical highlights of the performing artists are presented below in alphabetical order.

Natalie Aroyan (soprano)
From a young age, Armenian-Australian soprano Natalie Aroyan has had a passion for singing and has since performed on numerous stages all over the world. A graduate of the AGBU Armenian Saturday School and an active member of Sydney's Armenian community, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma of Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she took on the major role of Rosalinde in Strauss' Die Fledermaus for the 2008 Sydney Conservatorium of Music Main Production. She has been awarded first place in numerous competitions, including the Australian Singing Competition Finals, performing with the Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, the Opera Foundation Lady Fairfax New York Competition, the Herald Sun Aria Competition, and the International Vocal Arts Institute prize in Tel Aviv. She most recently participated in the American Institute of Music (AIMS) in Graz, Austria, where she performed in various orchestral concerts, including the prestigious 49th Meistersinger Competition Finals, where she won First Place and was also awarded The Audience Vote. Natalie is currently pursuing professional studies in opera at Mannes College the New School for Music in New York City.

Marina Chamasyan-Herder (piano)
Marina Chamasyan-Herder was born in Yerevan, Armenia. During her studies at the Komitas Conservatory there, she won the third prize at the First National Piano Competition and performed with the Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in the Khachaturyan Concert Hall. She holds master's degrees from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Netherlands and Bowling Green University in the United States. She has been awarded prizes from the Marjorie Conrad Duo Competition, Catholic University Concerto Competition, and the Ibla Grand Prize International Piano Competition. Marina was granted a fellowship from the Gilmore Music Festival to participate in master classes given by Claude Frank; she also performed in master classes by Victor Merzhanov, Andre Watts, Vladimir Tropp, Boris Berman and others. Marina has also appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in Belgium, Italy and Slovenia. Currently, she is completing her doctorate degree at the Catholic University of America and teaches at Wolf Trap Center for Education.

Monika Chamasyan (violin)
Monika Chamasyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1976. She began her studies in violin and piano at the Achemian Music School in Yerevan. Later, she attended the prestigious Tchaikovsky Music School, where she became a violin student of Willy Mokatzian, and continued her education under Mokatzian and Bogdanian at the Yerevan State Conservatory. While at the conservatory, she was invited to tour Germany as the first violinist of the Armenisches Quartet, which premiered works by Tigran Mansurian and Edouard Mirzoyan. Following her graduation from the Yerevan Conservatory, she joined the first violin section of the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia. A year later, Monika pursued her Artist Diploma in Violin Performance at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio. Monika currently lives in Reston, Virginia, where she continues to perform as a recitalist and maintains a studio of violin students.

Stepan Dadourian (flute)
Flutist Stepan Dadourian has been an active participant in the arts since early childhood, climbing to the position of soloist with the Bulgarian Opera's Philharmonic Society, conducted by Plamen Parvanov. He recently performed with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra in New York under the baton of maestro Joseph Liso. He has taken part in concerts at Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, Old Westbury Gardens, Nassau County Museum of Art, Maguire Hall and many others throughout the US and Europe, as well as the New York Armenian community. A graduate of the National School of Music in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Stepan is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma in classical flute performance under Koaki Shinkai at the Long Island Conservatory of Music of the State University of New York.

Aleksandr Nazaryan (viola)
Violist Aleksandr Nazaryan gave his debut concert at Weill Recital Hall as a soloist and a chamber musician in 2008. He has played with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, the Juilliard School Orchestra and the Chihuahua Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. He has held principal viola positions with the Las Vegas and Chautauqua Music Festival orchestras, and most recently the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In addition to numerous solo engagements, Aleksandr has performed at the Las Vegas Music Festival, the Spoleto Music Festival in Italy, Steinway Hall, The Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the United Nations. He received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Samuel Rhodes. Currently, he is in the second year of the Suzuki Violin Teacher Training Program at The School for Strings.

Hrant Parsamian (artistic co-director, cello)
Hrant Parsamian's interests range from the solo cello repertoire to chamber music, teaching and orchestral playing. He has recently performed with the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Houston Symphony, the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and at Chris Botti's Gala Concert at the Tilles Center. Hrant, together with violinist Benjamin Sung and pianist Jihye Chang, are founding members of the Arsenal Trio, with recent performances at the ClefWorks Chamber Music Festival, the University of Louisville New Music Festival, and the Gregory Singer Concert Series in New York. He is also founding member of the Parsamian Brothers Duo with his cellist brother Kevork. A devoted teacher, Hrant has given studio and master classes at Yale University, and the William Blount-Slawson Competition, among others. Born in Bulgaria, Hrant began his cello studies early under the guidance of his mother, giving his first recital at the age of six. Two years later, he made his debut as a soloist, performing the cello concerto of C.P.E. Bach. He holds bachelor's degrees from the Hochschule fur Music in Vienna and The Juilliard School, and received his Master of Music degree from Yale University.

Kevork Parsamian (artistic co-director, cello)
Cellist Kevork Parsamian was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He began his cello studies at the age of four under the tutelage of his mother and later continued his studies at the Sofia Music School. After coming to the United States in 1995, he received his bachelor's degree at the University of Cincinnati and his master's degree at Indiana University, followed by an Artist Diploma at Yale University School of Music. He has been awarded full scholarships from the University of Cincinnati, Indiana University and Yale University, and was granted an impressive award to study at the Aspen Music Festival in 1996. Kevork has been featured as guest soloist with the University of Cincinnati Orchestra, the Indiana Symphony Orchestra, the Lima Symphony Orchestra, the Mannes Community Orchestra, and the Bulgarian National Orchestra. Kevork is also an active chamber musician, who has performed as principal cellist with the Cincinnati, Indiana, and Yale University orchestras, the Sejong Soloist, the New York Haven Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Lima, OH, Evansville, IN, Sarasota West Coast, and New World Symphony Orchestras. He was a teaching assistant at both Indiana and Yale universities. Currently he is on faculty in the preparatory division of Manhattan School of Music, and a member of the international Sejong Soloist.

Anoush Simonian (viola)
Originally from Armenia, violist Anoush Simonian began her musical training at a young age, making her solo debut with the Delaware Symphony at the age of 16. She has since performed in some of the greatest halls, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. She received a full scholarship to Temple University's Pre-College division for gifted young musicians and served as principal violist there and at the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. Anoush received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Julliard School, where she also served as principal violist of the Juilliard Symphony and the Juilliard Opera Orchestra. She was awarded with Gluck and Morse Fellowship programs, through which she taught music at P.S. 89 in New York City and performed in the city's hospitals. As a teacher, Anoush has served on the faculty of New York State University's pre-college division, the Juilliard pre-college division, the United Nations' International School and the School for Strings in New York City. She is currently a candidate for a doctoral degree at the State University of New York.

Nazig Tchakarian (violin)
Violinist Nazig Tchakarian has given recitals in Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United States. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in May 2008. She is an award winner of national and international competitions, such as the International Competition "Pancho Vladigerov" and the "Rodolfo Lipizer" International Violin Competition in Italy. She is currently on the faculty of the International Festival-Institute at Round Top and performs as concertmaster of the Texas Festival Orchestra. Nazig has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Europe and the United States, and is a member of the Tchakarian Duo with her sister Varta. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University and a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University.

Varta Tchakarian (piano)
Bulgarian-Armenian pianist Varta Tchakarian has performed in Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France, Canada, and the United States. She made her New York debut in a recital in 2005 at Yamaha Artist Services and her Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall debut recital came in 2008 as a member of Tchakarian Duo with her sister Nazig. Varta is winner of the De Bose National Piano Competition and the Susan L. Tajra Foundation Piano Prize in Paris, and was granted first prize in numerous competitions in her native country. Varta holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Seymour Lipkin, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University under the tutelage of Constance Carroll. She is currently performing and teaching in the New York City area.

Viktoria Tchertchian (violin)
Viktoria Tchertchian was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and started playing the violin at the age of five. From an early age, she became well known as a participant in solo concerts, orchestral concerts, and chamber concerts in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Norway, and Belgium. At the end of high school, she was chosen as one of the soloists with the Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra. In 1996 Viktoria won a full scholarship to Louisiana State University and was invited to study there with Prof. Kevork Mardirossian. In 2006, Viktoria received her Master in Violin Performance degree from the Longy School of Music in Boston. She currently performs with the Portland Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Cape Symphony Orchestra, and the New Hampshire Music Festival. She also teaches violin and chamber music at the Powers Music School in Massachusetts, the Manchester Community Music School and the St. Paul's School in New Hampshire.

Sylvie Zakarian (marimba)
Bulgarian-born percussionist Sylvie Zakarian, a winner of international music competitions, has given critically acclaimed recitals at such venues as Weill Recital Hall and Town Hall in New York, the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, the Regis College Theatre, and the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. She has also been a soloist and premiered new works with the National Academy of Music orchestra in Bulgaria, the Ensemble for Contemporary Music at the Royal College of Music in London, and the Quincy Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts. Zakarian holds degrees with honors in Percussion and Marimba Performance from the Royal College of Music in London and Boston Conservatory. At the Royal College of Music, Zakarian was awarded the ARCO scholarship given to a solo performer by The Good Officer of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. She made her British radio debut on the BBC's "Classic FM" and, a year later, performed a recital on BBC Radio 3's "Young Artist's Forum." Zakarian has held master classes and workshops for young musicians at the Purcell School of Music, Royal College of Music, and Berkshire Young Musician's Trust in the UK. Currently, she is on the faculty of the Winchester Community Music School and an affiliate at the Office for the Arts at Harvard University.