YEREVAN — When The Naghash Ensemble kicks off their North American tour in Salisbury, MD, on November 4, most people in the audience will have never heard the sound of a zourna before. Let alone will they have been in the same room with a duduk, oud and dhol resonating along with three of Armenia’s most beautiful voices, and Armenian-American composer John Hodian on the piano. Most likely, The Naghash Ensemble’s concert will be their very first touchpoint with Armenian culture.
Performing for non-Armenian audiences and sharing new original Armenian music that is inspired by haunting, half-a-millennia-old poetry, has been at the heart of the Naghash Ensemble’s international touring for the past 12 years, which has led them to venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Paris Philharmonie and Elbphilharmonie.
“We didn’t set out to be cultural ambassadors of Armenia,” explained the Philadelphia-born Armenian-American composer John Hodian. “When I wrote this music, I just followed my intuition. It’s natural outcome of someone who grew up in a tight-knit Armenian family, but studied Western classical music and was surrounded by contemporary music in all its forms.”
Described as “Armenia’s most intriguing new music” by German radio WDR, and “a moment of meditation and grace” by Rolling Stone magazine, his works sit squarely at the crossroads of Armenian folk and spiritual music with new classical music, post-minimalism, and the energy of jazz and rock.
Over the years, this unique take on Armenian music has inspired international presenters to create Armenian-themed cultural festivals — most recently in Finland and France — and audience members to book their first trip to Armenia, a country they barely knew it existed, before they attended the concert. “It’s a pretty delightful side effect of us playing a concert on the other side of the world,” Hodian said.
The North American tour dates are:
