December 9, 2013

Sahan Arzruni on Komitas

A Cultural Evening With Komitas and Şahan Arzruni

In spite of the cold, snowy weather, an impressive crowd turned up at the Toronto AGBU Centre to attend a lecture about the greatest and most beloved of Armenian composers, V. Rev. Fr. Komitas (1869-1935), by the renowned pianist-musicologist Şahan Arzruni, on Tuesday, November 26. A chronological account of Komitas’ life, interlaced with his own writings and essays about him was supported by a power point presentation of various milestones in the composer’s life and historical photographs depicting various events in his life and career. The question period gave an opportunity to audience members to probe into more details about a subject that was obviously of high interest to them.

At the conclusion of the event, Mr. Arzruni signed his CDs dedicated to Komitas’ piano music. This album, published in Turkey in 2011 with the sponsorship of Dikran and Nadya Gülmezgil, includes the complete piano works of Komitas, which, to our knowledge, is a unique accomplishment. Elegantly presented, the album contains extensive and well-researched liner notes in English, Turkish and Armenian, covering Komitas’ biography, his working method, the circumstances in which the recorded works were created, and a brief description of the works. The recording that took place in Massachusetts is of excellent quality, and Mr. Arzruni’s expressive and stylistic interpretation of the works is enhanced even more by the warm tone of the fine instrument used (a Hamburg Steinway). A commendable project indeed, that has been highly successful, as the recording has already sold over 2000 copies.

Mr. Şahan Arzruni who is established in New York, is a reputed recitalist and lecturer who, in parallel with an international career, has done extensive research about various topics regarding Armenian music and musicians, and has several recordings and publications dedicated to them. Mr. Arzruni has frequently collaborated with the AGBU in numerous projects that aim to promote Armenian music, including the production of a collection of 8 records entitled Positively Armenian.

Dr. Araxie Altounian

If interested in getting Sahan Arzruni’s CDs, please contact us at 416-431-2428.
To learn more about Sahan Arzruni, visit www.iSolopiano.com