Hamazkayin Music Committee celebrates 20 years of success

Evening marks the release of 31-song Sayat Nova set and children’s DVD 

By Paul Chaderjian  

GLENDALE, Calif. – In front of the black backdrop of the stage, a spotlight from above illuminates the pianist and the piano. The beige and-brown grand piano is a Petrof; the suit-clad pianist is none other than one of the culture’s shining stars: Armen Babakhanian.  This performance, this evening – celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Hamazkayin Music Committee – has the audience of nearly 300 mesmerized.

“Excellent, excellent, excellent,” says Rita Demirjian, a supporter of the arts and a community activist. “I always have high expectations from the Hamazkayin, but tonight’s program went beyond my expectations.” 

This story begins two decades ago when the Western United States Executive Board of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society created its music committee. The goal was to document and promote Armenian music by publishing and recording music and educating the public. 

Music’s role in a culture 

“What is a nation without culture?” asks Varouj Bedikian. “Culture is the music. It’s the poetry. It’s the sports. It’s the foods. It’s the songs. And Hamazkayin is presenting a number of the classics that we can’t live without, that we can’t exist without. If it wasn’t for Hamazkayin, I wouldn’t be ex posed to many of our composers, to different arts, be it poetry or music.” 

The music-filled celebration on Friday, November 9, also marked the official release of the commit tee’s newest 2-set CD and DVD offerings. The music CD’s are a comprehensive recording of Sayat Nova works featuring 31 songs recorded by the Sayat Nova Ensemble and Thomas Boghossian. The DVD for children is called Yeraz Barig, and it features 50 minutes of entertainment written by Parsegh Topjian and performed in Western Armenian. 

“I just adore the things they do,” said Mr. Babakhanian before starting the performance. “I’m very happy now that I’m here. I’m very happy that this organization exists, and they do wonderful and great job.”  That great job included the pianist’s performance and the sound from the stage, which was of a culture coming to life, musi cal notes and unique arrangements found in the archives, dusted off and brought to the present. The pi anist was animating the music, his mouth open, jaw dropped, mouth opening and closing, forming a small circle, as if he was repeatedly saying “oh!” 

“Hamazkayin achieves wonderful projects with the highest quality,” said Mr. Babakhanian, “which is important, and they always take cultural as the main seed in order to introduce our audience, even international audience with our culture. And that’s always important.” 

Armenian culture digitized   

On a table across the stage of the Ararat Hometmetmen in Glendale, where the celebration took place, were some of the CDs and DVDs that the Music Committee has meticulously recorded and published. The committee’s recordings include Ganatchian Choral Works: An Anthology (1991), Komitas: Rustic Scenes (1992), Parsegh Ganatchian: Complete Works (3-CD set, 2000), Alexan Menakian: Children’s Songs (2003), Avedis Nazarian: Children’s Songs and Operetta (2004), Yetvart Hagopian: Children’s Songs (2004), Sayat Nova: Piano Arrangements (2005), Komitas: Piano Works (2-CD set, 2006), and Aram Khachaturian: Complete Piano Works (4-CD set, 2007). 

“This isn’t just any work, any average or mediocre work,” says Anto Harboyan. “These are professional recordings that can be used as an example of how all our work should be done. I was surprised by the documentary video we watched from Armenia’s public television and how it conveyed the enormous respect that Hamazkayin has garnered in Armenia. It means that the homeland commends the organization’s work and appreciates the arts. This collaboration between Armenia and the diaspora is a very positive, big step, and I hope it continues with other similar arts projects.”  In the vein of cooperation, the Armenian pianist, whose home is Yerevan, and who is an artist-in residence at the Yerevan Conservatory, performs for his diasporan fans. He is stooped over the keys, brooding. He looks to the left, he looks to the right, to the east and the west. What is he searching for? What is he looking at? What is he visualizing? 

“When I hear the Babakhanian recordings, my hairs stand on end,” says Mr. Bedikian. “The music has meaning for me. It hits a real chord somewhere inside. It’s like when people go to Hayastan (Armenia) for the first time; they’ve never been there before, but it feels like home. So, these recordings feel like home.” 

The long road to the homeland 

In 1994 the Hamazkayin Music Committee began with a focus re cording and publishing works that others didn’t consider, because they were not commercially viable. Since, the committee has released CDs, many recorded in Armenia, which chronicle and capture into the digital age songs and performances that may have been once captured on vinyl or not previously recorded. 

“I think the Hamazkayin is a great way to introduce, reawaken, and enrich our culture within the com munity,” says Arpiar Demirjian. “I think it has been succeeding in its mission. I think, eventually, Armenia need to be doing this type of work. It should be in Mother Armenia, in the homeland, where the culture will and should thrive. I don’t think in the diaspora we can do any more than this.” 

Mr. Demirjian says that listening to the CDs produced by the committee makes him feel pride more than anything else. His wife, Rita Demirjian, manager of the Sartarabad Bookstore in Glendale, added that when customers pick up the Hamazkayin CDs, they come back for second and third copies to buy as gifts for their friends. 

“I think it’s wonderful that we’re coming together to raise awareness about our culture and to teach our children about our culture,” says Tamar Jaghalian. The 20-something says the Khachaturian recordings are her favorite and take her back to Armenian. “I feel like I’m there, like I’ve lived a life, even though I’ve never been to Armenia.” 

An ode to musical greats 

The performance continues. The crowd is hushed. Some have their eyes closed. Others have their heads tilted up, looking at the ceiling, thinking, reflecting – each in an individual moment, each with a unique reaction to the precise notes sounding from the grand piano.  “The best part of the night is Seta Simonian’s heroism,” said

Antranig Ghazarian, commenting on the successes of the evening’s organizer and one of the original members of the Hamazkayin Music Committee. “Doing all these things with limited resources, I think, would be very difficult.” The pianist shakes his head as if a shiver has run down his back. He sits up from his stooped position, paying more attention to one chord than the previous one. Perhaps this one is where he makes his point, answers the riddle of a previously unexplained melody. 

“I am very pleased and satisfied with the outcome of this event,” said organizer Seta Simonian. “The purpose was to celebrate our achievements of 20 years and to share it with our community, our dear sponsors, artists and friends of ours who have been supporting us and collaborating with us over the years. They helped make all of our projects reality” 

Babakhanian’s shoulder elevate, slightly, body announcing a staccato note. The pianist presses down two keys with his right hand, then suddenly the arm flies up and over his head, past his back, then returns home to ground zero, the keyboard. 

“This was an important event for me to attend,” says Dr. Krikoir Derbabian. “I think these CDs stand on a different podium, be cause in addition to the music, the booklets are very, very informative; it’s a full work of art as far as I’m concerned. 

On stage, the pianist’s eyebrows lift up above the line of his glasses, then another finger is raised to make sure his glass rims are where they are supposed to be. 

“In 1987 people realized the importance of creating a music committee directly linked to the Executive Board of the Hamazkayin to do more professional and focused projects,” says Mrs. Simonian. “Mr. Vatche Barsoumian was the key person in founding this committee and became the artistic director of its projects.” 

As the pianist plays from the works of Aram Khachaturian, he looks as if he is amazed by the sounds he is making. It’s a new creation, even though the music had been composed decades ago and the same sequence of notes have been played time and again by professionals, students, aspiring con cert pianists. 

“The first time I collaborated with Hamazkayin was in 1994,” says Mr. Babakhanian. “It happened after I was the prize winner of [the] Van Cliburn competition, and I met these wonderful people. They invited me to Los Angeles, and I performed here. Since then, we collaborate from time to time and do interesting projects. I collaborate with the Hamazkayin not only here, but around the world. I was invited to Beirut many times by Hamazkayin, to Europe, to other parts of the U.S. as well.” 

Babakhanian takes a quick peek to the audience, eyes moving off the keyboard for a prolonged beat. Are they still there? Does he have them in his grip? He finishes up, plays the last note, but won’t let go of the key. 

Who’s who at Homenetmen Hall 

“A representative from the Hamazkayin Regional Executive Board, Mr. Dikran Babikian is here,” says Mrs. Simonian. “Hamazkayin Music Committee consultant Mr. Alahaydoyan is here. Many of our sponsors are here, including representatives from the Ani Dabat Memorial Fund and Mr. and Mrs. August Reis and Vickie Vartabedian Reis, and others. Mr. Parsegh Topjian, writer-composer of one of our releases, the Yeraz Barig children’s musical, is also here.” 

The audience wants to clap, but they must wait for the artist to say it is ok. He holds the key down, the sound continues, the moment elongates, time slows down, a second becomes a minute until the pianist releases the key, and the applause begins. A standing ovation. 

“What we saw today was beyond exceptional,” says Mrs. Demerjian. “I don’t think there is another artist like him alive today. I don’t want to name other names, but we’ve heard other pianists, both Armenian and non-Armenian, but today’s performance was exceptional.” 

This moment is his. He owns the hall, the audience, the Armenian culture at 10:40 P.m. on a Friday night when Harut Sassounian is being honored in Burbank by the Armenian Professional Society and at Montebello Armenian Center the Armenian Youth Federation is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of AYF Camp. 

“These CDs and this music is historic, something significant for our culture,” says Vasgen Brudian. “Many times this music can be lost and not kept in our pop culture.  These are songs and music that is brought from the past and reintroduced to us in a new way, which I really appreciate. It’s something that no one really does, and we should really continue, because generations from now, this could be completely lost.” 

You can’t hear a gulp, nor one click of a coffee cup being set down on its saucer. No one is eating the dessert on their tables. No sound. Even the air conditioner joins in by shutting down and making the room the soundstage for the pianist to play the notes. 

“His music, the way he was experiencing the music, the expressions during his performance, his technique and how he masters the piano were exceptional,” says Mrs. Demirjian. “He is the amalgamation of Khachaturian, Babakhanian. He had become one with those greats, Gomidas, all that had been spiritually embodied in one person.” 

The audience performs too 

One woman, in her 40s, sits and listens. Her face is covered with her palm and fingers. A 20-something is nodding her head with each note that sounds from the piano. On table 17, a woman wipes away a tear off her face. Is it the music giving birth to suppressed sadness deep inside or is the sadness being given a way to express itself because of a musician’s touch? 

On table 25, a man has lowered his upper body and is only a few inches above the table top near his head. He stares at the floor, at the tile, at the patterns down below, perhaps his eyes following the circles and squares at the pace of the music coming from the stage. 

Now Khachaturian’s Spartacus – hands bouncing up in the air, tension and drama building in the music. A man from the audience, dressed in a serious suit and tie, stared with his arms crossed. Another man has his fingers on his chin, holding up a head that’s melancholic or drunk with joy.  Suddenly, the pianist is standing for a half-a-second, a stand to give his arms and fingers the weight that a specific chord in the music calls for. He stands tall, arms strike the keyboard and a powerful sound echoes. 

Suddenly the pianist is seated, head lowered so close to the keyboard that one wonders if he is searching for a note lost between the cracks. He is looking at the keyboard up close, making sure he is hitting the right keys, perhaps, making sure these are the notes he wants to play, the notes that have been memorized, played, replayed, at times louder, maybe once softer, so that he can hear the difference. 

One woman has clasped her palms together, fingers stretched. She could be in church, in her own room, praying, but instead she is listening, perhaps the music is her god, the notes her prayer. 

More kudos for Hamazkayin 

“I’ve been a part of so many Hamazkayin events,” says Mr. Brudian, “and I think every one of them, especially the ones organized and the projects produced by the Music Committee, are of extreme quality, be it the CDs or the concerts.” 

Striking the keys as if undertaking a mad science experiment, an experiment of whether note A will fit with note B, if chord X will resonate or clash with the next chord Y. The pianist asks a question that only the next moment can answer.  The familiar Spartacus theme, heard in motion pictures, in children’s animated cartoons, in the top most concert halls around the world, now coming to life on

San Fernando Boulevard, the geo graphic border between Los Angeles on the south and Glendale on the north. 

“This undertaking was a big effort and the work being done is a very important work,” says Harout Yeretzian of the Abril Bookstore in Glendale. “The founder, Vatche Barsoumian, is one of our top musicians, and he founded the commit tee and placed it on the right track.”  When Babakhanian reaches the end, there is a giddiness in the both the music and the pianist. The left hand reaches over the right, pressing on a key with as much force as if the pianist was banging on a drum.

He sits up, straightens his back, touch his nose, a quirk perhaps, a gesture, a momentary straightening of the glasses on this face, and then he continued with his fancy choreography of fingers and movements. 

“Culture has a very important role to play,” says Hamazkayin member Shoushig Aslanian-konialian. “I worry about how I must pass on our culture to younger generations. That’s why I believe in the Hamazkayin. I was born in Hamazkayin. My father was part of the Central Committee, and I’ve stayed in this organization because I believe in its mission, and I believe that culture is what keeps our nation alive.”  The pianist’s body on stage is al ways in motion, like the culture he has captured and is presenting to the audience. The theatrics of the performance is of the pianist push ing his glasses up, his arms make huge circles in the air, clockwise after hitting one key, in the air, and hands back down to the ivory. 

Then the left hand makes a counter clockwise circle in the air, more keys are pushed, then both hands go up as if he is conducting an invisible army of notes flying through the air to the ears of the devoted listeners, people mesmerized from two to a hundred feet away.  “I think this is the music that we need to show to other cultures,” says Mr. Brudian. “Because you know, sometimes pop music is ex citing, but it’s not the core of our culture. I think this is the music that is ongoing, and it connects us with the past and the future.” 

Shoulders are scrunched together, body changing shapes, from a square that’s parallel and perpendicular to the piano, into a tight circle with an arched back.  His body is an O and then it’s a T, but they’re both him. What does he see? What is he thinking? Is he seeing colors, imagining a scene, hearing dialogue? Is his mind on the feel of the night or the flight to China he has to make tomorrow to take Armenian music to the most populous country in the world? 

“Earlier today, I was thinking about the 1915 massacres,” said Mrs. Simonian. “During the most awful, dark, black days, someone like Gomidas was born, a genius was born, and we owe much of our musical library and history to him. In a way, this means there is no reason to be hopeless. Because at any time, unexpected and unimaginable talents will be born and our nation will live through its culture.”  

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