The Naghash Ensemble of Armenia can be performing a live performance titled Songs of Exile, Songs of Knowledge in Toronto on March 29. It takes place on the Aga Khan Museum’s Nanji Household Basis Auditorium.
Their music fuses parts of Armenian custom and Western classical music with up to date minimalism and elegance in a singular twenty first century sound.
The Ensemble is called after Mkrtich Naghash, an Armenian painter, poet, and priest who lived from 1394 to 1470. He was ultimately exiled from his publish in Amid (Dikranagerd) by the Ottoman authorities for the temerity of setting up a church steeple that was increased than that of the mosques within the neighbourhood. A lot of his poetry offers with the themes and practicalities of dwelling in exile, and it’s written in a method that was nearer to spoken language in an effort to join together with his folks.
These themes are mirrored within the Ensemble’s music, largely written by John Hodian. A brand new work, primarily based on medieval writings by Kostandin Erznkaci, with music by Hodian, is titled Songs of Exile. It’s a mirrored image on humankind’s relationship to God, taken from the angle of a monk who has been dwelling in exile for a few years.
The Naghash Ensemble of Armenia
Hodian talks concerning the origins of the Ensemble in a 2020 interview. “The thought for The Naghash Ensemble got here after I first heard Hasmik singing within the historical Temple of Garni outdoors of Yerevan, Armenia. She primarily sang medieval Armenian non secular music and her lovely voice, mixed with the astounding acoustics of Garni, left an indelible impression in my thoughts for days after. I used to be decided to write down one thing that may use this sound in a brand new means. It took a number of years to find the fitting textual content. I spent many months researching within the libraries of Yerevan, New York, and Berlin. Once I lastly got here throughout a small fragment of the Armenian medieval poet Mkrtich Naghash, the phrases leapt off the web page and into my soul and I knew I had discovered what I used to be on the lookout for.”
The members are:
- Hasmik Baghdasaryan • soprano
- Tatevik Movsesyan • soprano
- Shahane Zalyan • alto
- Harutyun Chkolyan • duduk
- Aram Nikoghosyan • oud
- Tigran Hovhannisyan • dhol
- John Hodian • piano/composer
With three ladies vocalists, the emphasis is on choral and vocal works in settings which might be lush and melodic. Stylistically, the mix parts of Western classical music, Armenian folks music, up to date post-minimalism, and the drive of rock and jazz.
- Discover extra particulars and tickets for the March 29 live performance [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher.