By Aram Arkun
Mirror-Spectator Staff
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — YerazArt celebrated its tenth anniversary on October 23 with a concert titled “A Prelude to Our Future,” at the Longy School of Music’s Pickman Hall. It featured violinist Diana Adamyan, pianist Nara Avetisyan, trumpeter Daniel Melkonyan and tenor Tigran Ohanyan, all young and talented artists originally from Armenia, with Nuné Hakobyan as collaborative pianist. A cocktail reception followed at the Sheraton Commander Hotel.
Adamyan performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major BMV 1006, Prelude, Rodion Shchedrin’s In the Style of Albéniz, and Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D minor, opus 46, Allegro vivace. Adamyan, 16, currently studies at the Yerevan Tchaikovsky Special Music School, and from a young age has won numerous prizes in Armenia and Russia. She has performed extensively with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia in France, Switzerland and Iran, and has performed in YerazArt’s 2013 annual concert. In April 2016, she was invited to join the prestigious International Music Academy of Liechtenstein on a scholarship and currently participates in the intensive music weeks and programs it offers.
Ohanyan sang Umberto Giordano’s Loris aria from “Fedora,” Giuseppe Verdi’s Alfredo aria from “La Traviata,” Giacomo Puccini’s Pinkerton aria from “Madame Butterfly,” and Armen Tigranyan’s Jivan Yar Jan from his “Anush” opera. Born in 1994 in Yerevan, Ohanyan received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Vocal Arts from Yerevan’s Komitas State Conservatory, where he studied with voice professor Rafael Hakobyants. He has performed in Armenia, Russia, Germany and the US, and made his opera debut in March 2016 as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Eduard Topchjan. Among his many prizes, in 2016, he won the Armenian President’s Prize, followed by the Special Prize at the 6th Galina Vishnevskaya International Competition in Moscow, Russia. In 2015, he won Special Prize as Most Promising Tenor at the Jazeps Vitols International Vocal Competition in Latvia. In 2012, he won Bronze Medal and Special Prize at the 7th Open Youth Delphic Games in Astana, Kazakhstan, and was later awarded a diploma at the 6th International Competition of Opera Singers in Saints Petersburg, Russia. In 2007, he won first prize at the Alexander Spendiaryan 2nd Young Musicians’ National Competition in Yerevan and first prize at the Veratsnund International Contest-Festival in Yerevan.
Avetisyan played Enrique Granados’ Goyesca No. 5, El Amor y La Muerte, Balada, and Frederic Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F minor, opus 52. Avetisyan is currently pursuing a double master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) in solo and collaborative piano performance after receiving her bachelor’s degree at the same institute in 2014. The Anais Afeyan scholarship through YerazArt as well as several other Armenian scholarships assisted with her education at CIM. She has won numerous prizes, including first prize at the Grant Piano Competition in Sioux Falls in 2014, and others in Greece, Lithuania and Italy. She has performed recitals in Vienna, Munich, Geneva, London, Monaco, Sochi, Boston, Los Angeles, and many other venues.
