Tickets on Sale Now for AGBU NYSEC’s 6th Annual Performing Artists in Concert

Proceeds to Benefit AGBU Performing Arts Worldwide

The AGBU New York Special Events Committee’s (NYSEC) signature Performing Artists in Concert is quickly approaching and tickets are now available. The sixth annual event will take place on Saturday, December 7, 2013 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

This year’s NYSEC concert will be dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the 1988 earthquake that devastated Armenia. The commemorative event will bring together young talents from Bulgaria, France, Mexico and the U.S. Included in that international ensemble are: Tomas Barreiro (composer and conductor); Pierre Bedrossian (oboe, duduk and English horn); Ani Kalayjian (cello); Henrik Karapetyan (violin and viola); Solange Merdinian (mezzo-soprano); Nazig Tchakarian (violin/artistic director); Varta Tchakarian (piano); and Adam Tendler (piano).

Through the AGBU Scholarship Program, each artist has received an AGBU Performing Arts Fellowship that supported their training at some of the world’s finest institutions, such as the National Music Conservatory of Paris, the Juilliard School of Music, Yerevan State Komitas Conservatory, and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Their influences are diverse: Tomas Barreiro’s “Rossignol Mecanique,” which will make its world premiere at the event, is inspired by the sounds of his native Mexico City, as well as New York and Paris. It is a variation of “The Death of the Nightingale,” the piece that made Barreiro a winner in AGBU’s 2012 Sayat Nova International Composition Competition and earned him the prize to showcase his work at Carnegie Hall.

AGBU Performing Arts Department Director Hayk Arsenyan awarded Barreiro the Carnegie Hall Special Prize at the competition gala concert last year, which was organized by AGBU France and paid tribute to Sayat Nova. He commented, “Everyone who was present for that performance in Paris was amazed by the organic way “The Death of the Nightingale” wove together Armenian and Mexican traditional art. I am immensely excited to hear this new piece and share it with our New York audience.” The program will also feature works by Aram Khachaturian, in honor of the 110th anniversary of his birth, as well as the late Alexander Arutiunian and Edward Mirzoyan. Supporting young musicians as they preserve the legacy of those artists, and pursue their own careers, is a key objective of AGBU performing arts initiatives.

It is also a central goal of AGBU NYSEC. Committee member Nila Festekjian, who is co-chairing the event with Sossy Setrakian, remarked on NYSEC’s work, stating, “As Armenians it is our responsibility to support each other as we preserve our cultural heritage. NYSEC is proud to help put on stage talented young Armenians who are pushing the boundaries, creating exciting new pieces while keeping the music of our past alive. We’re looking forward to a great evening celebrating these performers and our culture.”

Tickets for this benefit concert are on sale now. Orchestra and front balcony tickets are available for $65. For the special price of $35, limited seating is available in the rear balcony. Reserve your seat today by calling the AGBU Events Coordinator Sharis Boghossian at the AGBU office, (212) 319-6383; calling the Carnegie Hall Box Office at (212) 247-7800; or visiting www.carnegiehall.org.

Donors who contribute $1,000 or more will be recognized in the NYSEC Concert Booklet and will receive two complimentary tickets as well as two invitations for dinner with the evening’s performers immediately following the concert. Please call (212) 319-6383 for more information.