Tweet
'SAYAT NOVA INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION' ANNOUNCES WINNERS
By Contributor on January 21, 2015
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) recently announced the
winners of the 2014 Sayat Nova International Composition Competition:
Hovik Sardaryan, 21, of Armenia was awarded first prize; Fun Gordon
Dic-lun, 26, of Hong Kong received second prize; and Richard Melkonian
of the United Kingdom, 25, received third prize.
The Sayat Nova International Composition Competition gala concert at
Salle Cortot in Paris in 2012.
As first prize winner, Sardaryan received both the AGBU Carnegie Hall
Award and Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) Award. His piece,
"The Flowers of Golgotha," will premiere at a gala concert in May and
will be performed at the annual AGBU Performing Artists in Concert
at Carnegie Hall in December 2015. He will also be commissioned to
write a 10-minute piece that will be performed by the APO during its
2016-17 season.
The Sayat Nova International Composition Competition is designed to
introduce Armenian musical traditions to a wider audience. This year,
in commemoration of Centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the competition
asked composers to include in their submissions the poetry of Daniel
Varoujan, one of the first victims of the genocide.
Submissions arrived from various countries, including Russia,
Switzerland, and Brazil, as well as from 14 U.S. states. Sixty percent
of the composers were not of Armenian descent. The jury judging the
competition was comprised of seven renowned artists--conductor of APO
Eduard Topchjan, composer Yakov Yakulov, soprano Hasmik Papian, pianist
Jenny Chai, composer Paul Mefano, and composer Michel Petrossian--from
Armenia, Austria, France, China and the United States.
Poet Lola Koundakjian served as a consultant to the jury and
Hayk Arsenyan, a composer and the artistic director of this year's
competition, advised on the selection of the AGBU Carnegie Hall Prize
winner. "This project is one of the brightest examples of what the
AGBU Performing Arts department is aiming to accomplish--to introduce
Armenian traditional instruments to an international audience and to
strengthen cultural connections between Armenia and the rest of the
world," said Arsenyan.
The Sayat Nova International Composition Competition this year
partnered with music company Vox Novus, which developed Music Avatar,
a software that allowed all submissions and judging to take place
online. Robert Voisey, the executive director of Vox Novus, was
instrumental in the collaboration. "We are very proud to have worked
with AGBU and contributed to making the competition inspirational
and creative," he said.
The works of the three prize winners, which included music for the
duduk, violin, piano, and a mezzo soprano, will be showcased at the
gala concert and award ceremony on May 11 at Symphony Space in New
York. Ara Guzelimian, the provost and dean of the Juilliard School,
will give the opening remarks at the gala.
For more information about the AGBU and its worldwide programs,
visit www.agbu.org.
http://armenianweekly.com/2015/01/21/sayat-nova-composition-winners/
From: Baghdasarian
By Contributor on January 21, 2015
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) recently announced the
winners of the 2014 Sayat Nova International Composition Competition:
Hovik Sardaryan, 21, of Armenia was awarded first prize; Fun Gordon
Dic-lun, 26, of Hong Kong received second prize; and Richard Melkonian
of the United Kingdom, 25, received third prize.
The Sayat Nova International Composition Competition gala concert at
Salle Cortot in Paris in 2012.
As first prize winner, Sardaryan received both the AGBU Carnegie Hall
Award and Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) Award. His piece,
"The Flowers of Golgotha," will premiere at a gala concert in May and
will be performed at the annual AGBU Performing Artists in Concert
at Carnegie Hall in December 2015. He will also be commissioned to
write a 10-minute piece that will be performed by the APO during its
2016-17 season.
The Sayat Nova International Composition Competition is designed to
introduce Armenian musical traditions to a wider audience. This year,
in commemoration of Centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the competition
asked composers to include in their submissions the poetry of Daniel
Varoujan, one of the first victims of the genocide.
Submissions arrived from various countries, including Russia,
Switzerland, and Brazil, as well as from 14 U.S. states. Sixty percent
of the composers were not of Armenian descent. The jury judging the
competition was comprised of seven renowned artists--conductor of APO
Eduard Topchjan, composer Yakov Yakulov, soprano Hasmik Papian, pianist
Jenny Chai, composer Paul Mefano, and composer Michel Petrossian--from
Armenia, Austria, France, China and the United States.
Poet Lola Koundakjian served as a consultant to the jury and
Hayk Arsenyan, a composer and the artistic director of this year's
competition, advised on the selection of the AGBU Carnegie Hall Prize
winner. "This project is one of the brightest examples of what the
AGBU Performing Arts department is aiming to accomplish--to introduce
Armenian traditional instruments to an international audience and to
strengthen cultural connections between Armenia and the rest of the
world," said Arsenyan.
The Sayat Nova International Composition Competition this year
partnered with music company Vox Novus, which developed Music Avatar,
a software that allowed all submissions and judging to take place
online. Robert Voisey, the executive director of Vox Novus, was
instrumental in the collaboration. "We are very proud to have worked
with AGBU and contributed to making the competition inspirational
and creative," he said.
The works of the three prize winners, which included music for the
duduk, violin, piano, and a mezzo soprano, will be showcased at the
gala concert and award ceremony on May 11 at Symphony Space in New
York. Ara Guzelimian, the provost and dean of the Juilliard School,
will give the opening remarks at the gala.
For more information about the AGBU and its worldwide programs,
visit www.agbu.org.
http://armenianweekly.com/2015/01/21/sayat-nova-composition-winners/
From: Baghdasarian