Concert at St. Vartan Cathedral Dedicated to Armenian Independence Anniversary

For the 2023-2024 season, she will return to Carnegie Hall on February 14, 2024, for a special jazz-themed Valentine’s Day program.

Conducting this special program will be Tramm, called by Symphony Magazine as a “Conductor to Watch,” hailed for his choral symphonic and operatic performances, receiving critical acclaim throughout the United States and internationally.

In 2015, as the artistic director and principal conductor of the MidAtlantic Artistic Productions, he made his Carnegie Hall debut at Stern Auditorium. From 2008 to 2012, he served as director of the New Jersey State Opera. And in 2009, the HDTV broadcast with PBS affiliate NJN of the “Verdi Requiem: Live from Ocean Grove”, honored him with a prestigious Emmy nomination. He has also been featured on two National Public Radio broadcasts.

Tramm also is a proficient educator and is the associate professor and director of choral activities at Seton Hall University, leading the University Chorus, Chamber Choir and Orchestra. In 2017, Seton Hall presented him with the “University Faculty Teacher of the Year” award.

In 2003, Tramm was honored with the “Rising Star Award” from SUNY, joining such world famous Metropolitan Opera luminaries as Renee Fleming and Stephanie Blythe who have also been feted with this much sought-after award.

Well known as a collector, curator, benefactor and civic leader, Vicki Shoghag Hovanessian who is organizing this unique concert, was recently appointed as cultural advisor to the Embassy of Armenia in Washington, DC. Since 1995, Hovanessian has promoted the works of Armenian artists through showings in galleries, private viewings and art fairs with high standards.

During her youth in Beirut, Lebanon, she attended the Armenian Evangelical College (high school), and the Beirut College for Women. At the Art Institute of Chicago, and at Sotheby’s Educational Institute in New York, she studied contemporary art. She is the former director of “Vicki Hovanessian Contemporary Art.”

Among her professional art presentations at St. Vartan Cathedral in New York are “Giving Form to Faith (2008)”, “Crosses and Icons: Celebrating Spirituality” (2011), “Legacy of Ten Armenian Artist’s” (2012), “25 Years, 25 Artists”,(2015), and “Artist Avedis Baghdasarian” (2018).

In 2008, Hovanessian was instrumental in bringing Arshile Gorky’s awe-inspiring “Artist and His Mother” painting from the Whitney Museum to the Eastern Armenian Diocese, where it was displayed under armed guard on the 60th anniversary of the artist’s death.

She has also has had award-winning exhibitions of Armenian artists in Chicago, the Northwest Indiana Art Center, the Bergen Community College, Southern Connecticut State University and the Collector’s Forum of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where she was the chairman from 1994 to 1997.

And in Armenia, Hovanessian’s exhibitions have been viewed at the Yerevan State Museum and other venues and in 2017, she was appointed Diaspora Cultural Advisor to Armen Amirian, Minister of Culture of Armenia.

This special concert at St. Vartan Cathedral has been underwritten by Harry and Suzanne Toufayan, Vicki Hovanessian, and John Mahdessian in memory of his father, Noubar Mahdessian.

The September 20 concert is the first of a planned series of cultural events to be held at St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral. Chairperson of the committee is Hovanessian, with co-chair Seta Pascalian Kantarjian, and members Sossy Setrakian, Lily Sarkissian, Alla Terzyan and Tamar Barsamian Degermenci.

Eastern Diocesan Primate Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan has remarked, “With prayers for the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh and their people, and with a heart brimming with hope, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have contributed to this memorable event, and to each individual who joins in this celebration of music, unity, and the indomitable Armenian spirit.”