BMOP Launches 20th Anniversary Season With Armenian Tribute, 10/18

Boston, MA - The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the nation's premier orchestra dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording new orchestral music, opens its 20th anniversary season with Resilient Voices: 1915-­2015, a concert commemorating the centennial of the Armenian genocide, in collaboration with Friends of Armenian Culture Society. The program includes 20th century works by Komitas/Aslamazyan, Alan Hovhaness, and Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as the Boston premiere of Tigran Mansurian's 2009 Requiem. Joining BMOP on the Jordan Hall stage are guests artists Nareh Arghamanyan (piano), Terry Everon (trumpet), the Harvard-­Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and Boston University's Marsh Chapel Choir.

In tribute to the indomitable spirit of the Armenian people, BMOP, under the direction of its director and conductor Gil Rose, dedicates a special concert to the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. "Through music, we are honoring the struggle and the perseverance of the ancient and long-­standing Armenian culture," says Rose. "We are thrilled to present works from the rich Armenian musical tradition and those inspired by it."

Half of the program features works that powerfully combine elements of Armenia's musical history: sacred music, folk songs, and more. Presented in its Boston premiere, Requiem (2011) is a majestic, ambitious eight-­part piece by notable Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian (b.1939). "I am sure and proud personally that my requiem included the centuries-­old experience of the Armenian church music and the mentality of our religious people," said Mansurian. The idea of writing a requiem occurred to the composer long ago, and its creation was a 10-­year process. "During its composition, I was confronted by the problem of differing interpretations of the canonical texts laid down by the Armenian and Roman Catholic churches. I hope that the interlinking of ancient sacred and secular music of Armenia with the Latin text has created something unexpected and even slightly paradox in my music."

An enduring influence on Mansurian is fellow Armenian composer Komitas, aka Soghomon Soghomonyan (1869-­1935). His folk music transcriptions, as well as his own folk-­based songs, choruses, and liturgical chants were key contributing elements to a distinctive present-­day national musical style in Armenia. Cloudy Sky, here in an arrangement by fellow Armenian composer and cellist Sergei Aslamazyan, is one of many pieces by Komitas sourced from folk music. Regarded by many Armenians as the country's foremost composer, Komitas was also a priest who spent time in a prison camp during the genocide.

Perhaps one of the most distinctive and prolific figures in contemporary music, with an opus of about 500 works to his credit, Alan Hovhaness (1911-­2000) was an American composer of Armenian and Scottish descent and a trend-­setting pioneer who absorbed a variety of ancient and modern influences from India, East Asia, and Armenia. Many of Hovhaness'?s works from the 1940s and 50s, including Khrimian Hairig (1944), reflect an intense interest in his Armenian roots. Described by the composer's wife as his "true masterpiece," Khrimian Hairig is an arresting vignette for trumpet and strings. It was written in honor of the heroic priest Mkrtich Khrimian (1820­1907), one of the most cherished figures in Armenian history.

A prelate, abbot, bishop, and elected Patriarch of Armenians in Istanbul, Khrimian was given the title Hairig ("Father" in Armenian) by the people in the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The aforementioned composer Komitas was ordained as a celibate priest by Khrimian in 1894.

Rounding out the program is Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 (1933), featuring as guest pianist Armenian native Nareh Arghamanyan. A Russian-­born composer and pianist, Shostakovich (1906-­1975) was Soviet Russia's most important symphonist of the 20th century. He wrote many of his works under the pressures of government-­imposed standards of Soviet art. Under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, he was officially denounced as a "?formalist"? and his music dubbed "?anti-­people." He is known today for his subversive wit, and is beloved for both his unique musical voice and his perseverance in creating art despite persecution.

About BMOP
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is the premier orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-­first centuries. A unique institution of crucial artistic importance to today's musical world, BMOP exists to disseminate exceptional orchestral music of the present and recent past via performances and recordings of the highest caliber. Founded by Artistic Director Gil Rose in 1996, BMOP has championed composers whose careers span nine decades. Each season, Rose brings BMOP's award-­winning orchestra, renowned soloists, and influential composers to the stage of New England Conservatory's historic Jordan Hall in a series that offers orchestral programming of unmatched diversity. The musicians of BMOP are consistently lauded for the energy, imagination, and passion with which they infuse the music of the present era.