Dilijan Chamber Music Concert Series launch as part of Armenian Genocide centennial events

The 10th Anniversary Season of the Dilijan Chamber Music Concert Series launches on Sunday, October 26 at the Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles. This season features a remarkable lineup of universally admired artists of international reputation, such as violinists Ani and Ida Kavafian, violists Kim Kashkashian and Paul Coletti, cellists Clive Greensmith and Antonio Lysy, percussionist Kuniko Kato, soprano Tony Arnold, and clarinetist Michele Zukovsky, among others, the Lark Musical Society informs.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Dilijan Chamber has commissioned ten new compositions, to be premiered throughout the season. Among the commissioned composers are the established Armenian masters, such as Tigran Mansurian, Ashot Zohrabian, Vache Sharafyan, Artur Avanesov, as well as young talented composers Ashot Kartalyan, Daniel Sedgwick, Aram Hovhannisyan, Kristapor Najarian, and Martin Ulikhanyan.

This season’s performances are also part of the Lark Musical Society’s centennial commemoration of the Armenian genocide. Lark has launched 100 cultural events to mark the worldwide remembrance; in September 2014, it premiered the “100 Years” symphony written jointly by John Psathas and Serj Tankian, founder and lead singer of the System of a Down, at a sold-out evening in the Pasadena Ambassador auditorium.

At its season opening concert on October 26th, artistic director and master violinist Movses Pogossian will be joined by violinists Martin Beaver and Guillaume Sutre, the long time leaders of the world renowned Tokyo and Ysaye String Quartets.

The program will feature masterworks by Purcell (String Fantasias), Haydn (String Quartet Op. 74 No.2), and Mozart (String Quintet in g minor, K. 516), as well as a World Premiere of Vache Sharafyan’s Divertissement for string quintet, commissioned by the Dilijan Series. Also participating will be violinist/violist Varty Manouelian, cellists Ronald Leonard and Armen Ksajikian, and bassist Michael Valerio.