GLENDALE — On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of the Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) in the United States, the TCA Metro Los Angeles Chapter organized “An Evening Dedicated to Maestro Hampartzoum Berberian: Renowned Composer, Conductor and Educator” at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles on September 6. Berberian served as TCA’s first president in the United States when the organization’s articles of incorporation were accepted in Massachusetts in 1969.
Berberian, who passed away in Watertown, MA in 1999, is revered for his musical pedagogy and admired by generations of Armenians for composing and conducting a wide range of vocal, choral and operatic works, as well as symphonic and chamber pieces. Berberian’s legacy includes his beloved students from the Armenian Theological Seminary in Antelias, Lebanon and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Tarouhy Hagopian School for Girls, AGBU Hovagimian Manougian School for Boys and the AGBU Yervant Demirdjian Elementary School in Lebanon. Former students from all of the above schools were in attendance to pay tribute to their beloved teacher known as “Baron Berberian” in their youth.
Dr. Karen Israyelyan, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles, congratulated the Tekeyan Cultural Association on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the organization’s establishment in the United States. He also commended the lifelong contributions of Berberian.
Co-master of ceremonies Hasmig Karayan and Mihran Toumajan integrated numerous tributes to Berberian throughout the program. Among them were excerpts of a voice recording of an interview conducted in 1969 at the Baikar Building in Watertown conducted by Varsenik Parseghian with Berberian. Berberian notes that he was born in 1905 in Adana, the youngest of eight children. The family consisted of six boys and two girls. He became interested in music starting at the age of four.
A recent recording from Fr. Zaven Arzoumanian was also shared with the audience. Arzoumanian fondly recalled his days as a seminarian at the Armenian Theological Seminary in Antelias, Lebanon where he was taught nationalist songs and music notation by Berberian. He recalled a conversation he had with his classmate, the late musicologist Krikor Pidedjian of New York. Arzoumanian stated that Pidedjian felt that only Gomidas Vartabed ranked ahead of Berberian as an Armenian musicologist.
