A STUNNING 40th MUSICAL ARMENIA CONCERT AT CARNEGIE HALL

BY FLORENCE AVAKIAN

On March 9, the 40th Musical Armenia Concert with two very young and remarkably talented artists graced the world-famous Carnegie Hall stage. As the capacity audience took their seats, the enthusiasm was palpable. 

Musical Armenia, a celebratory event established by the Eastern Prelacy in 1982 by Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian, was only interrupted during the Covid crisis. It has drawn large music loving crowds throughout New York and nearby metropolitan areas.    

“Music has no borders,” wrote the Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, Archbishop Anoushavan, in a preface to the program booklet. “Perhaps more than any other form of artistic creation, it immediately and quintessentially becomes part of the universal heritage.” 

Revelations 

On March 9, pianist Vartan Arakelian and composer and pianist Arno Melkonyan brought those words to profound reality.       

Following words of welcome by Musical Armenia Committee member Levon Tatevossian to the large crowd, 17-year-old pianist Vartan Arakelian strode confidently onto the stage decorated with fall flowers. He took his seat at the Steinway grand piano, pausing thoughtfully for a minute, and started his program by world famous, legendary and beloved classical composers. 

He opened with Bach’s “Partita No. 2 in C minor,” an intricately fingered dark piece demanding exceptional dexterity which the young performer demonstrated with great understanding. 

Beethoven’s “Sonata No.4 in E-flat major” featuring spacious melodies followed, and concluded in a dramatic climax, to which Vartan gave full splendor. 

Chopin’s “Nocturne in C Minor”, has been hailed by critics as “musical poetry,” Archbishop Anoushavan has written. Starting slow and meditatively, with soulful melodies, and chords, it builds to a powerful climax, which elicited lengthy applause from the audience. 

Schumann’s “Novelletten,” a set of eight pieces for solo piano, reflecting the composer’s keyboard style, demonstrated the young pianist’s accomplishment and keyboard mastery. 

Arakelian concluded his program with Arno Babadjanian’s “Six Pictures for Piano,” showing his pianistic prowess not only for the classical genre, but also for his Armenian emotion and ancestry.    

Babadjanian, one of the most prolific and much-loved composers of Armenia, has won the hearts of not only Armenians, but also music lovers worldwide. And Arakelian gave this work the flavor it deserved. His pianistic mastery resulted in a lengthy standing ovation. 

Armenian Musical Inventions 

Following the intermission, 21-year-old Arno Melkonyan presented a creative program dedicated to his homeland and began his pianistic and compositional mastery with Arno Babadjanian’s “Prelude,” a folk-inspired presentation demonstrating the brilliant style of Rachmaninoff and Khachaturian, truly a tribute to his Armenian people.          

Melkonyan’s “Wedding Song” began with quiet thoughtfulness and built to joyous celebration. It was accompanied with talented Iranian-born Alireza Khodayari on the tar who evoked soulful Armenian feelings in his talented understanding of the music. 

Melkonyan’s “Patriotic Rhapsody” paid tribute to his mother who “used to sing it in our Armenian church,” he wrote. The piece is “an exploration of my Armenian roots and patriotism.” With Melkonyan masterfully evoking his feelings on piano, he was accompanied on violin by Alisa Shin and on cello by Queralt Giralt. 

“String Quartet No. 1,” receiving its first live performance, painted a feeling of sheer loneliness, even though one might be surrounded by many people. It portrayed the feeling of solitude, which Melkonyan experienced during his first year of college in the United States. Through many meaningful connections, it concluded with a dash of optimism. Two violinists, Alisa Shin and Analuna Chahine, violist Minjun Seo and cellist Queralt Giralt accompanied the pianist. 

The final composition was “In Memory of Artsakh.” Melkonyan dedicated the piece to its courageous people, the 120,000 forced out of their beloved homeland, “to what once was and hopefully will be again.”  The first movement, Vardavar in Stepanakert, evoked his earliest memories when as a nine-year old he visited Artsagh with his father.

In part two of this profound piece, Elegy for the Fallen, depicted the war and described his grief during the exodus, and as a Diaspora Armenian, his feelings of grief. “I heard the distant screams of my nation.”  The final, Hope of Rebirth, was a “show of light in the darkness, a sunrise after the long night, symbolizing the spirit of resilience and the profound hope that Artsakh will rise again.” 

As the highly emotional music ended, the crowd instantly rose to their feet, some visibly in tears, giving the masterful composer and pianist a very lengthy and loud ovation, lasting several minutes.    

As the two artists with the accompanying instrumentalists came onto the stage, Musical Armenia Committee members Levon Tatevossian and Annita Nerses presented beautiful bouquets to each of the performers. The loud applause continued for several more minutes, ending an afternoon of soulful and deeply moving musicality. 

Following the outstanding concert, Archbishop Anoushavan hoisted a gala reception at the Armenian Prelacy headquarters. As the artists, instrumentalists and Musical Armenia Committee members lined up, the Prelate emphasized the importance of “bringing our input and inspiration into art and music.” 

A Promising Future  

Vartan Arakelian started his studies on the piano at the age of four and continued with master classes. His achievements include an award at the 2025 National Young Arts Competition.  He was also the second-place winner of the 2024-2025 of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition. The young artist won second place at the 2023 Chopin International Piano Competition, at age fifteen.

His honors have also included finalist at the 2023 Boston Pops Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition, first prize at the 2022 New England Teachers Association Mildred Frieberg Competition, and prize winner at the Back Bay Music Contest and at the Paderewski International Competition.

On many occasions Arakelian has performed at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. In Boston, where he is a high school student, he has performed with friends in senior centers. For the Music for Food organization, Vartan established student concerts to raise awareness about food insecurity and fight hunger in local communities. Every year, he performs in NEPTA’s Music for Hope charity recital.   

Arno Melkonyan, who is not only a pianist and composer, but also a guitarist, started his musical journey at age nine at the Yerevan Music School. Internationally adept, he has lived with his family in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, while attending high school.   

In 2023, Melkonyan started his B.A. degree in music composition at the Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, he is the treasurer of the College Society of Composers. In his varied compositional modes of music, he has combined influences from the Romantic era, jazz fusion themes, and his deeply ingrained Armenian folk and religious chant traditions.   

Always trying to expand his musical journey, Arno seeks new-found inspiration from new and diverse contacts and experiences. 

The Musical Armenia Committee included Julie Kedersha, Sophie Khachatryan, Annita Nerses, Varsenne Sarkissian, and Levon Tatevossian. The art direction and design were by Gregory Dosttur.