Arshile Gorky: Abstractions of Three Women, Duo Piano and Vocal Performance

A culturally enriching afternoon is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 21, 2010 at the Zipper Concert Hall located at the Colburn School. The Armenian Technology Group (ATG) is pleased to present Arshile Gorky: Abstractions of Three Women – Duo Piano and Vocal Performance in conjunction with the exhibition Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and The Colburn School.  The concert will celebrate the completion of 20 years of dedicated service that supporters of ATG have provided to the people of Armenia and Artsakh.  

The musical selection, especially arranged for two pianos, represents 20th century contemporary music from around the world, including Armenia, South America, Europe and the United States. The Duo-Piano program will include selections by Astor Piazolla, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Alexander Harutunian and Arno Babajanian.  The vocal performance includes works by Johannes S. Bach, Heitor Villa Lobos, Maurice Ravel, Romanos Melikian and Parsegh Ganachian.

This dynamic one-hour musical program will start at 5:00 PM at the Zipper Concert Hall. Reservation to the concert will include complimentary entrance pass to the Gorky exhibition at MOCA, and a social reception immediately following the concert.  Museum passes could be used on Saturday, any time prior to the concert.

The musicians, pianist Naira Shahsouvarian, Maria Amirkhanian, and vocalist Anahit Nersissian are contributing their talent to this celebration.  Their premier performance took place at California State University, Fresno Concert Hall earlier in the spring.  The artistic and technical ability of the two pianists charmed the audience.  “It was a wonderful Concert,” said Dr. Steve D. Lewis, Chair, Associate Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, at CSU Fresno. “The piano music was spectacular, and the vocal performance was really magnificent.”

The Shahsouvarian-Amirkhanian duo demonstrated their immense talent throughout their performance. One could feel the musicians’ sense of enjoyment whether they were playing the slow and Latin-infused Milonga de Angel by Astor Piazolla or his more upbeat and rhythmic Libertango.  The audience could feel the lovers’ cry in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess while the performers’ dazzling technical proficiency was put on display in the first movements of Milhaud’s Scaramouche suite and Poulenc’s Capriccio.

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in association with Tate Modern, London, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The exhibition at MOCA will end on September 20th.
The Zipper Hall is one of the best performing art centers in Los Angeles area. The Zipper Hall is adjacent to MOCA, located across from the Disney Concert Hall on 200 South Grand Avenue, in Los Angeles.

For ticket reservations or additional information, please contact 559-224-1000.

About The Artists:
Anahit Nersessian is an accomplished and award-winning soprano from Los Angeles. She was born in Yerevan, Armenia and received her first musical award at the age of 7.  She received her latest award at her debut at Carnegie Hall, as the first place winner in 2009 of the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition.  Known for her excellent coloratura techniques, Anahit is considered to have a voice that is exceptional and highly expressive.  After winning the Glenga International Competition (1984) and first prize at the Paris Youth Festival (1985), she made her debut with the Mravinsky Orchestra in 1985 in St. Petersburg singing Verdi’s Requiem with Yelena Obraztsova.  This concert launched her career where she later went on to perform Fauré’s Requiem, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Coronation, and Schubert’s Cantata in C Minor. Anahit is the winner of the California Opera Association in 2000 and the 2003 Cirque Du Soleil Competition.  She has performed with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra, New Valley Orchestra, West Side Symphony Orchestra, and South Pacific Orchestra.  Anahit is the founder of the Musical Comedy Theatre (YMMB Inc.), based in Glendale.  Over the years, Anahit has made many valuable contributions as an actress, singer, and vocal coach.  As Anahit likes to say, “singing is not my profession, it is my life.”

Naira Shahsouvarian, Ph.D. attended Tchaikovsky School of Music, and graduated with honors from Komitas State Conservatory in performance, pedagogy and accompaniment, specialized in piano and chamber music. She was a student of Professor Yuri Hayrapetian for five years before receiving her DMA. Naira has performed as solo recitalist and accompanist on numerous stages worldwide. She joined the faculty of the Komitas State Conservatory as music professor before moving to Fresno. Over the past 17 years, Naira has established her own piano studio in Fresno, where she teaches private piano lessons and master classes, while working as an accompanist at CSU Fresno Music Department.  Naira will perform as accompanist and as the first pianist during the duo-recital.

Maria Amirkhanian, Ph.D. attended Tchaikovsky School of Music, and Komitas State Conservatory, before moving to United States. In 1993 Maria was accepted, with full scholarship, to CSU Fresno where she became a student of Andreas Werz.  In 1994, Maria was awarded second place at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Pasadena. The following year she won first place at the 1995 MTA Solo Competition, a statewide event. In 2000, she obtained her DMA from Moscow Conservatory, Russia.  After teaching at CSU Fresno, Maria joined the faculty of Gavilan College Music Department in the Fall of 2006. In addition to teaching, Maria is the coordinator for Bach to Blues Concert series and Marian Filice Piano Competition.