World Music: The Naghash Ensemble (Armenia/USA)

Mon 15 March at 19:00, Pärnu Concert Hall
Tue 16 March at 19:00, Estonia Concert Hall
Wed 17 March at 19:00, Jõhvi Concert Hall

World Music: The Naghash Ensemble (Armenia/USA)

Hasmik Baghdasaryan (soprano)
Tatevik Movsesyan (soprano)
Shahane Zalyan (alto)
Tigran Hovhannisyan (dhol)
Aram Nikoghosyan (oud)
Emmanuel Hovhannisyan (duduk)
John Hodian (piano, composition)

Programme: John Hodian, “Songs of Exile” (“Songs of Exile”)

The Naghash Ensemble combines the secular spirit of Armenian folk song, new classical music, and the rock and jazz energy of contemporary post-minimalism. Three outstanding female voices and Armenia’s finest instrumentalists on duduk, oud, dhol, and piano create new music based on the sacred texts of M’krtich Naghash, the mystical medieval Armenian poet and priest.

The ensemble’s major work “Songs of Exile”, created by Armenian-American composer John Hodian, is a profound reflection on the relationship between humans and God, seen through the eyes of a monk forced into exile for years. It is partly folk music and partly a classical work, deeply moving and spiritual. East meets West and antiquity meets modernity in this collection of reflections, laments, and incantations. Highly captivating, yet at the same time easy to take in. – NPR

Composer John Hodian brings the poetry of the 15th-century Armenian priest M’krtich Naghash to life. These songs are unmistakably Armenian, yet seem to come from another world. – Armenisch-Deutsche Korrespondenz (ADK)

The concert has no intermission and lasts approximately 1 hour 30 minutes.

Read more: The Naghash Ensemble of Armenia