Special Collections

Diana A. Apcar (1859-1937)

Diana Agabeg Apcar was born in Rangoon, Burma (present day Yangon, Myanmar) on October 12, 1859.  Her father, Hovhannes Agabeg, was a first generation Indian Armenian having migrated there as young a boy with his parents from New Julfa, Iran.  Her mother Avet was from the family of Tadeos Avetum Shirazets’i [of Shiraz] another historic city in Iran.  Diana, the youngest of the seven children of the family, grew up in Calcutta where she received her education in a convent school. She became fluent in Armenian, English, and Hindustani.

Diana married Apcar Michael Apcar, also with roots in New Julfa, Iran, in June 1889 in Rangoon, Burma.  He was one of the descendants of the prominent house of Apcar, which had founded Apcar and Company as early as 1819.  Initially established in Bombay, Apcar and Company later moved to Calcutta and shortly after expanded its operations to the South Asia and Far East. Its activities included shipping, import/export enterprises, and rice farming in the Dutch East Indies.  By mid-1840s, the Apcar fleet sailed the Calcutta, Penang, Singapore and China routes.

The Apcars moved and settled in Yokohama, Japan in 1891.  They had five children, only three survived.  After the unexpected death of her husband in 1906, Diana assumed the heavy burden of running her husband’s business and raising her three children.

As the years went by her son took over the helm of the family business, leaving Diana with more time to delve into her literary, humanitarian, and diplomatic work.  She collaborated with various journals among them Armenia (later New Armenia), The Japan Advertiser, the Japan Gazette, and the Far East.  In these she became the champion of the oppressed writing extensively about the condition of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in an effort to raise the world’s consciousness. Specifically she emphasized the moral duty of the West to save the Armenian nation, the “Little Ally” during the First World War.

By 1920 she had published nine books dedicated to the Armenian Genocide, international relations, the impact of imperialism on the world affairs and world peace. These include: her first novel, Susan, which was published in 1892, followed by the Home Stories of the War. The latter, written during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, was dedicated to the Japanese people. The proceeds from its sale were donated to the Japan Red Cross. These were followed by The Truth about the Armenian Massacres (1910), Betrayed Armenia: These are They Which Came Out of Great Tribulation (1910), In His Name . . . (1911).  Peace and No Peace (1912), and The Peace Problem (1912) which received “rave reviews” in the American press, among them the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago News, and the Buffalo News. The Great Evil (1914), and On the Cross of Europe’s Imperialism Armenia Crucified (1918).

The memoirs of the refugees of the Armenian Genocide are testimony to her courage. “This wonderful woman used to work miracles, helping poor strangers in difficult situations, especially when women and children were involved . . . She was a woman of faith and prayer and a woman of positive action. She wrote letters to contemporary kings, queens, and governments, about the plight and persecutions, the ruthless murders.  The genocide of her race, and the prevailing poverty of the remnants in all parts of Turkey, pleading with a deaf, blind world . . . ”

In 1920, Japan became one of the first nations to recognize the independence of the Armenian republic, mostly through the efforts of Diana. In a letter dated July 22, 1920, signed by the Foreign Minister of the Republic, Hamo Ohanjanian, in recognition and appreciation of her devotion, and “for defending the interests of the newly-born Fatherland, and mitigating the conditions of our compatriots . . .” She was appointed Honorary Counsel to Japan making her the first Armenian woman diplomat, and probably the first woman ever appointed to a diplomatic post in the twentieth century. Her services in that position concluded with the Sovietization of Armenia by the Russian Bolsheviks in the 1920s.

The new status added to Diana Apcar’s prominence and stature among the governmental circles in Japan. In addition to diplomatic duties, it facilitated her work on behalf of the Armenian refugees who sought safe havens in distant shores, the United States, in particular. She corresponded with several international figures. In a letter dated December 20, 1920, she pleaded with President Woodrow Wilson about the “Armenian agony.” She was in contact with the American secretaries and under-secretaries of state William Robert Lansing, William Phillips, and Alvey A. Adee as well as international humanitarians James L. Barton, then secretary of the foreign department of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, David Starr Jordan, director of the World Peace Foundation and president of the World Peace Congress, and Arthur G. Symonds, Secretary Balkan Committee. She was also instrumental in fundraising for Near East Relief.

Her devotion to the Armenian church was also boundless. In a letter dated February 10, 1920, directed to an Armenian clergyman in the United States, she wrote: “Holy father, . . . It has been twenty-nine years that I have been living in this remote country.

I am longing for the church, I am longing deeply. There is not a church like the Armenian church with her vibrant spirit and consoling prayer, not even one which can have gratifying feeling of the Armenian liturgy.  I do not know whether there will be a day that I would have the privilege of crossing the threshold of my church and be a participant of the holy mass, my ears listen and satiated by those prayers.” She knew the Bible verbatim, she followed the teachings of the church faithfully. She even wrote a prayer, which she asked to be read at the church service, which read:

“I wish to spread this prayer among the Armenian nation (people), so that wherever there are Armenians they pray to God so that

Armenia is liberated

That the Armenian Republic remains firm

Grant God and have mercy.

Diana was a devout believer, and yet a true realist.  She had an excellent grasp of the behind the scene machinations of the Great Powers, whom she found responsible for the calamities that befell her people. “Those who are called European Powers” she once said to a visitor “are the satan’s scourge of the world . . .  I would rather trust the Satan than the European powers.”

At the age of sixty-seven Diana Apcar experienced various physical problems, among them hearing loss, failing eyesight, and arthritis.  She died on July 8, 1937 longing for her beloved Armenia and mother church in her heart. On July 10, 1937 a capacity crowd gathered at the Yokohama Union Church to bid farewell to the pivotal figure of their community, who had lived among them for forty-six year with honor and dignity.

Click here for The Diana A. Apcar Collection

Books

• From the Book of One Thousand Tales: Stories of Armenia and its People 1892-1922. (Indiana, 2004).
• On the Cross of Europe’s Imperialism: Armenia Crucified. (Yokohama, 1918).
• The Great Evil. (Yokohama, 1914).
• Peace and No Peace. (Yokohama, 1912).
• The Peace Problem. (Yokohama, 1912).
• In His Name . . . (Yokohama, 1911).
• Betrayed Armenia. (Yokohama, 1910).
• The Truth about the Armenian Massacres. (Yokohama, 1910).
• Home Stories of the War. (Kobe, 1905).
• Susan. (Yokohama, 1892).

Ara Baliozian (1936 - )

An Armenian author, translator, and critic, Ara Baliozian was born in Athens, Greece on December 10, 1936. He received his education at the Mekhitarist College of Moorat-Raphael in Venice, Italy, where he also studied economics and political science at the University of Ca Foscari.

He now lives in Ontario, Canada, where he devotes his full time to writing. He has been published in both Armenian and English. He is also the winner of many prizes and government grants for his literary work^, which includes fiction, drama, literary criticism, and translations from Armenian, French and Italian.

Over the years he has contributed regularly to World Literature Today (Oklahoma), Ararat quarterly (New York), Meghou (Bee), Nor Keank’ (New Life) and Asbarez (Forum), Los Angeles. The Armenian Mirror-Spectator (Watertown, Massachusetts), Abaka (Future), Montreal, and a number of other publications in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. His poetry, articles, and translations have appeared in Armenian-American Poets (Detroit, 1976), New Writings from the Middle East (New York, 1978), and the Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet Literatures (Iowa, 1981).

His work has been described by critics as “valuable,” “eloquent,” “splendid,” and “brilliant.” Williams Saroyan has said, “I read everything Ara Baliozian writes with fascination and gratitude,” and Armenian writer and literary critic referred to Baliozian  as “a prolific and talented writer.”

He now mostly posts his works on different Armenian internet discussion boards.

Click here for The Ara Baliozian Collection

Works

Memoirs and fiction

1. Book Reviews/Interviews. (Los Angeles, 1982)
2. The Horrible Silence: An Autobiographical Novella. (Pasadena, 1982)
3. In the New World. (New York, 1982)
4. The Call of the Crane/The Ambitions of a Pig. (New York, 1983)
5. The Greek Poetess and Other Writings. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1988)

Historiographical works

1. Armenia Observed: An Anthology. (New York, 1979)
2. The Armenians: Their History and Culture. (New York, 1980). Revised and expanded edition (New York, 1981).
3. The Armenian Genocide & The West. (Kitchener, Ontario, and, Jerusalem, [1984])
4. Definitions: A Critical Companion to Armenian History and Culture. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1998)
5. Pertinentes Imperinences. (Yerevan, 2008) Translated into French by Mireille
6. Besnilian, Denis Donikian, Dalita Roger.
7. Voices of Fear. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1989)
8. Perseverance: Ara Baliozian and the Armenian Cause. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1990)
9. That Promising Reality: New Visions & Values, The Armenian Revival. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1992). (Kitchener, Ontario, 1998)
10. Definitions: A Critical Companion to Armenian History and Culture. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1998)
11. Unpopular Opinions. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1998)
12. Intimate Talk: Autobiographical & Critical Writings, Conversations, Letters, & Translations from the Armenian. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1992)
13. Undiplomatic Observations. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1995)
14. Pages from my Diary: 1986-1995. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1995)
15. Conversations with Ara Baliozian by Nazali Bagdasarian (Kitchener, Ontario, 1998)
16. Fragmented Dreams: Armenians in Diaspora. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1987)
17. In the New World. (New York, 1982)
18. Book Reviews/Interviews. (Los Angeles, 1982
19. Portrait of a Genius and Other Essays. (Los Angeles, 1980)

Translations

1. Krikor Zohrab, Zohrab: An Introduction. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1985)
2. Puzant Granian Selected Poems / 1936-1982 (New York, 1983
3. Gostan Zarian, The Island & A Man. (Willowdale, Ontario, 1983)
4. Zabel Yessayan, The Gardens of Silihdar & Other Writings. (New York, 1982)
5. Gostan Zarian, Bancoop & the Bones of the Mammoth. (New York, 1982)
6. The Traveller & His Road. (New York, 1981)
7. Puzant Granian, My Land, My People. (Los Angeles, 1978)

Compilations

1. Pghatonēn Sartrě : mets mitkʻerě ew menkʻ [From Plato to Sartre: Great Thoughts and We]. (Los Angeles, 1998)
2. Dictionary of Armenian Quotations. (Kitchener, Ontario, 1998)
3. From Plato to Sartre: Wisdom for Armenians. (Glendale, California, 1995)
4. Armenian Wisdom: A Treasury of Quotations & Proverbs. (Glendale, California, 1993)

Hayg Boyadjian (1938 - ) 

Born in 1938 in Paris, France, Hayg Boyajian migrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he started his musical studies at the Liszt Conservatory.  In 1958 he migrated to the United States, and presently lives in Lexington, Massachusetts. In the United States he continued his musical studies as a special student first at the New England Conservatory and later at Brandeis University. Among his teachers were Beatriz Balzi (student of Alberto Ginastera, with whom Boyadjian had several consulting meetings), Seymour Schifrin, Alvin Lucier, and Edward Cohen.

He has composed a large number of works from chamber to symphonic. Many of his compositions have been performed in the world: United States, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Korea, Russia, France, Holland, England, Spain, and Armenia.

A number of his scores are available through the American Music Center, New York and on the internet through Sibelius Music.

Some of his chamber and symphonic compositions are recorded on the following CD labels: Living Music; Society of Composers Recordings; North/South Consonance Recordings; and Opus One Recordings.

He is a member of the Composers' Union of Armenia, ASCAP, Society of Composers, the MacDowell Colony, and others. His name is found in the Who's Who in American Music and the International Who's Who in Music.

He has received awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, and the Lexington Arts Council-MA, the New England Foundation-Meet the Composer, the Fiftieth Anniversary Commission Project-American Music Center.

A number of his writings on music and a number of his poems have been published in various publications.

Click here for The Hayg Boyajian Collection

Dr. Hagop Martin Deranian, DDS (1922-2016)

Born in Worcester, 1922, he was the son of Marderos and Varter (Bogigian) Deranian. A graduate of South High School, Deranian furthered his education at Clark University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1945. Continuing on, he received his D.D.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and in 1947. From 1947-1951, he was an Associate of Dr. Ronald M. King in Boston, prior to entering the United States Dental Reserve – Dental Corps of the US Navy in 1951. As a Lieutenant (J.G.) Dr. Deranian served overseas during the Korean Conflict from 1951-1953.

Dr. Deranian has been in the private practice of general dentistry in Worcester more than 61 years from 1953 to his retirement in 2014.

He was a life member of the American Dental Society; member, editor, and past president of the Worcester District Dental Society; member and chairman of numerous committees of the Massachusetts Dental Society; past member and president of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry; a member of the American Prosthodontic Society, American Cleft Palate Association; the American Medical Writer’s Association; and the founding president of the Armenian American Dental Society.

Community involvement was a hallmark for Dr. Deranian, as he served on numerous boards and committees i.e., Central Massachusetts Health Planning and Coordination Committee; Model Cities Health Supportive Services; Prescription Parents – a Cleft palate group; Planning Council of Community Services of Greater Worcester; in addition the Visiting Nurses Association of Worcester.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, the nation’s premiere donor and volunteer-supported youth mentoring organization had a special place in his heart for over 50 years.

Described by friends, associates, and public figures as the consummate gentleman whose genuine approach to issues for humanity has no equal. In 2014, he was presented a Certificate of Special Recognition for his Outstanding and Invaluable Service to the Community by the Congress of the United States.

As a collector and exhibitor of antique dental equipment, Deranian established a turn-of-the century museum at Tufts Dental School of Dental Medicine. Among his many honors and awards were the Worcester Medical News Wisteria Award; the Who’s Who in the East Award (Marquis) recognition; the Hayden-Harris Award of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry; and the creation of the Dr. H. Martin Deranian Annual Fellowship Award established May 5, 1999 in his honor.

Dr. Deranian was passionate about his Armenian heritage and was a supporter of the Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University. He was also a 50-year member of Montacute Lodge of Masons, and a member of the Knights of Vartan since 1947.

Described by many as a “renaissance man” for his approach to issues as being a rebirth or revival, and noted as a prolific researcher and writer, Deranian’s numerous publications include:

The Village of Hussenig: Memories of the Heart and Hearth (Boston, 1981).

Hussenig: The Origin, History, and Destruction of an Armenian Town (Belmont,

Massachusetts, 1994).

Worcester is America: The Story of Worcester’s Armenians, The Early Years

(Worcester, Massachusetts,1998).

Miracle Man of the Western Front: Dr. Varaztad H. Kazanjian, Pioneer Plastic

Surgeon (Worcester, Massachusetts, 2007).

President Calvin Coolidge & The Armenian Orphan Rug (Arlington, Massachusetts,

2013, 2014).

Präsident Calvin Coolidge und der Armenische Waisenteppich (Berlin, 2014).

[German edition]

 Nakhagah Kalvin Koolij yev hay vorberi gogre (Tehran, 2018).

[Armenian edition]

 Rayis jomhur Kalvin Koolij va farshe yatimane Armani (Tehran, 2018).

[Farsi edition]

 Hagop Bogigian; Armenian American Pioneer & Philanthropist (Arlington,

Massachusetts, 2016).

Deported/A Dream Play by Joyce Van Dyke is based on the friendship between the playwright’s grandmother and Dr. Deranian’s mother, both of whom survived the deportation and Genocide as “resilient woman” (2012).

Click here for The Dr. Hagop Martin Deranian Collection.

Nikol Galanderian (1881-1944)

Born in 1881 in Akn (Ağın) historical Armenia to a shoemaker’s family, Nikol Galanderian lost most of his family in the Turkish massacres of 1894-96. He and a brother survived.

In 1900 he began studies under the noted Armenian composer and musicologist Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935) at the Gevorgian Seminary. Under Komitas for two years he became familiar with Armenian Church music and the Armenian notational system, he learned to play the violin and guitar on his own and continued to explore music theory. In 1910 he accepted a teaching position in Tbilisi, Georgia and in 1911 began his composing career. His first composition was based on a text of prominent Armenian poet, Avedik Issahakian Yerger ou verker (“Songs and Wounds”). With the recognition of his work came an invitation to teach at the Haykazian School in Tehran, Iran, where he lived and composed the rest of this life. There he organized and conducted the “Goghtan” choir, an Armenian choir that performed many of his works.

In 1913 he wrote a children’s opera and, beginning in 1924, many other compositions for children followed. Large number of his works drawn upon the poetry of Vahan Terian, Hovhannes Toumanian, Avetik Isahakian and others. His work includes the operas Parvana (a lake in Georgia), Hovik (“Breeze”) and Lalvari vors (“Lalvar’s Prey”). His compositions and manuscripts are housed in the archives of the Eghishe Charents Museum of Art and Literature in Yerevan, Armenia.

He continued his compositional career until his death in 1944. Through the efforts of his contemporaries, friends and fans of his musical legacy, Galanderian’s works were collected and published in Armenia in the past two decades. Below is a bibliography of his collected works (8 volumes) under the general title of Huyseri ew huyzeri mrmunjner. [Murmurs of Hopes and Emotions], each classified under a distinct category.

Works

Huyseri ew huyzeri mrmunjner A. erger ew romansner [Murmurs of Hopes and

Emotions: Songs and Romances] E’ Operaner [Operas]. v. 7 (Yerevan, 2003).

______ E. Zugergner ew ansamblner [Duets and Ensemble Works]. v. 8

(Yerevan, 2003).

______ Z. Gortsik’ayin steghtagortsut’iwnner [Instrumental Works]. v. 6

(Yerevan, 2002).

          ______ D. khmberger [Choral Works]. v. 4 (Yerevan, 2001).

______ G. erger ew romansner. v. 3 (Yerevan, 2000).

          ______ E. Mankakan steghtagortut’iwnner [Children’s Works]. v. 5 (Yerevan,

1999).

Du norits’ekel es [You Have Come Again]. (Yerevan, 1999).

Huyseri ew huyzeri mrmunjner A. erger ew romansner [Murmurs of Hopes and

Emotions: Songs and Romances], v. 1 (Yerevan, 1995).

______ B. erger ew romansner [Songs and Romances]. v. 2 (Yerevan, 1995).

Click here for The Mikol Galanderian Collection

Aram Gharabekian (1955-2014)

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1955, Aram Gharabekian began studying music at the age of ten with Ludwig Bazil at the Tehran Conservatory.  In 1967, he began piano studies with Vogui Maryousef.  At 14, he was already composing works for the piano.  In 1973, Gharabekian moved to Boston where he began studies at the Boston and New England Conservatories.  He received a fellowship in composition to study under Jacob Druckman and Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts.  In 1979, Gharabekian graduated from the New England Conservatory with a Master of Music Composition.  In the summer of 1979, he went to Italy to continue his studies under Franco Ferrara.  Then Gharabekian moved to West Germany in the fall of the same year and became one of a few conducting pupils of Sergiu Celibidache.  He also continued his postgraduate studies in Musical Phrenology at Mainz University in Germany.

In 1982, he returned to the United States and began laying the groundwork for SinfoNova Chamber Orchestra.  SinfoNova’s first public concert was at the Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  SinfoNova performed through 1991 and won critical acclaim and praise.

Gharabekian won the 1989 Lucien Wulsin Performance Award for the best concert performance aired on America’s National Public Radio.  He was also awarded the 1988 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award for Adventuresome Programming, and Harvard Musical Association’s Best Performance Award twice.

Moving to Armenia, Gharabekian led the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia (NCOA) as its artistic director and principal conductor (1997-2013).  Under his baton, the ensemble toured the United States, England, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.  Their first compact disc of Armenian works was issued in 1998.  Meanwhile, he taught conducting at the Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan and was recognized for his contribution to the arts in Armenia.

Gharabekian was also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic and appeared with the Sinfonietta München in Germany and Italy.  He also led the Ukrainian National Symphony, Ukrainian Radio & Television Symphony in Kyiv. He led them in recording their first Compact Disc, featuring Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, which was released in 1996 on Russian Disc's “Audiophile Series.” Following a critically acclaimed guest appearance with the Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra in 1991, Maestro Gharabekian was invited by the Ukrainian Minister of Culture to assume the position of Artistic Advisor and Conductor Gharabekian also conducted the West Ukrainian Philharmonic in Lvyv, the Armenian Philharmonic in Yerevan, the Fresno Philharmonic in California and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana, and Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra.

On New Year’s eve in 1999, Gharabekian led an orchestra and chorus of 300 musicians from six different countries in a televised millennium celebration concert in Hangzhou, China featuring Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

His compositions include: Meditation for Orchestra KIBOSA, Qgham, and Spring of Light.  These compositions have been performed in London, Boston, and Tanglewood.

Gharabekian died in Los Angeles on 10 January 2014 at the age of 58.

Awards

1989 Lucien Wulsin Performance Award

1989 Harvard Musical Association’s “Best Performance Award”

1990 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award for Adventuresome Programming.

Click here for The Aram Gharabekian Collection

Reuben Gregorian (1915-1991)

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1915, to Levon Gregorian and Victoria Aftandilian, both of Tabriz, Iran, Reuben Gregorian received his early musical education under his father, a renowned violin teacher, performer, and educator.  The young Reuben’s education began in his native Tabriz at the Armenian Central College, followed by the Tehran Conservatory, the École de Musique in Paris, and the National Conservatory of Music in Paris. Upon his return to Iran, Gregorian assumed the Directorship of the Tehran Conservatory (1947), and the Music Director and Conductor of the Tehran Symphony.  From 1949 to 1951 he headed the Iranian National Commission of UNESCO, music section.

In 1952 Gregorian and his wife migrated to the United States.  Shortly after his arrival he joined the faculty of the Boston Conservatory of Music (BCM), where he taught violin and chamber music, and directed the Conservatory Chorus and the Conservatory Orchestra until his retirement in 1979.

The four decades of Gregorian’s musical career proved to be extremely productive. Concurrent with his tenure at the Boston Conservatory of Music (BCM), Gregorian was the music director of the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine (1959-1962).  In recognition of his services as conductor of the Portland Symphony, he was made an Honorary Citizen of the State of Maine by Governor John Reed in 1962. Gregorian also served as conductor of the New England Chamber Orchestra, and guest conductor of the Boston Esplanade Orchestra fromn 1953 until 1978 as well as St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Tehran Symphony, New Chamber Orchestra (London), Chamber Players, and Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. In addition was music director and conductor of the Boston Women’s Symphony until it was disbanded.  At the invitation of Arthur Fiedler, Gregorian guest-conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra at the “Armenian Night,” for twenty-six years (1952-1978) under the auspices of the Friends of Armenian Culture Society (FACS).  In addition to his accomplishments as conductor and teacher, Reuben Gregorian was the founder and choir director of St. James and St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Churches of Watertown, Massachusetts from 1953-1957, and 1957-1965, respectively.

Gregorian conducted for several recordings and composed many published works.  His original works in various genres include such compositions as the Bride of Tatragom, Iranian Suit, Symphony No. 1, Three Orchestral Suites, Concerto for Horn, Armenian Heroic Ballads and Hymns, Caprice for Violin, Scherzo for Piano, numerous solo and choral compositions and many arrangements of Armenian folk songs and dances.  Most of these pieces have been played by the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. The Armenian Divine Liturgy [Patarag] by Komitas, arranged for orchestra and chorus, can be considered Gregorian’s masterpiece.  It was started in 1962 and completed in 1990.  Charles Munch, the late music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, upon examining the score of the Divine Liturgy, wrote: “With much care and with great interest I have examined Reuben Gregorian’s version of the Komitas’s Divine Armenian Liturgy.  I am pleased to tell you that I find the score full of interest.  The musical content has great beauty, and the arrangement is executed with skill and with taste.” The world premiere of the Divine Liturgy took place in November 2001 under the direction of Reuben Gregorian’s son Leon at Boston Symphony Hall.

In 1970, at the invitation of the Committee on Cultural Ties with the Diaspora Armenians and the Musician’s Union of Armenia, Gregorian visited Armenia.  He was the guest conductor of the Armenian State Philharmonic Orchestra of Yerevan in 1971 and 1972.   In the late 1970s he was invited to join the Music Faculty of the College of Fine Arts of the Tehran University.  In 1978 he gave a critically acclaimed concert tour of Iran by invitation of the Iranian government in celebration of the Pahlavi Dynasty’s Golden Jubilee where he conducted the National Iranian Radio Television (NIRT) Chamber Orchestra in world premiere presentations.

Gregorian is the recipient of several awards and decorations, including the Great Cross of Cilicia, Order of Knighthood (May 1969) for his contributions to Armenian music and culture, the highest award of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.  Aram Khachaturian best summed up the universal praise for Gregorian when he wrote:

“I find that Reuben Gregorian, American composer of Armenian descent, is a great composer.  He meets the highest demands of standard, talent, uniqueness, inspiration, skillfulness, and national image.”

Maestro Gregorian passed away on March 28, 1991.  His body was laid to rest at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  His love of music inspired generations of music students, composers, and performers. The genius and depth of musical talents and skills passed down to him from his parents continues to live and thrive in the third and fourth generation of Gregorians.

Works

Iranian Folklore, 2 vols.

Church Hymns, 2 vols.

Recordings

Oratorio de Noel.

Sharagans

Armenian folk-songs

Tatragome's Bride

Symphony No. 1

Three Orchestral Suites

Concerto for Horn

Armenian Heroic Ballads

Caprice for Violin

Scherzo for Piano (numerous solo and choral compositions, and many arrangements of Armenian folk songs).

Awards

1. State of Maine Honorary Citizenship Award.
2. Lambda Pi. National Honorary Awards of the Symphonia Fraternity (1966)
3. Phi Mu Alpha/ Lambda Pi Alumni Certificate (1964)
4. Certification of Commendation, Ministry of Culture and Arts. The Imperial

Government of Iran.

5. Armenian Commemorative Committee Today, Contributions to Armenian Music,

(1979)

6. Iranian-Armenian Society of Los Angeles (1980)
7. Armenian Students Association, Ara S. Boyan Humanities Award (1977)
8. Community Leaders and Noteworthy Americans (Award 1978)
9. Armenian National Committee of America – for outstanding Contribution to

music (1980)

10. “Ararat” Armenian Cultural Organization (1979)

Click here for The Reuben Gregorian Collection

Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)

Acclaimed as one of America’s most often performed and prolific composers, he occupies a unique position among the major composers of the Twentieth Century.  Born in 1911 to Haroutiun Hovhanes Chakmakjian, an Armenian American professor of chemistry at Tufts College and Madeleine Scott Chakmakjian of Scottish descent and a Wellesley College graduate, Alan Hovhaness grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts and graduated from Arlington High School in 1929.

He began composing from the early age of seven. His first piece, an opera, “Daniel” was written when he was in junior high school. He studied piano with Adelaide Proctor and Heinrich Gebhard, and later under Frederick Converse at the New England Conservatory of Music (1932). He considered his main teachers Hermon DiGiovanno, a Greek mystic painter, and Masataro Togi, a great Gagaku musician of Japan.  In 1943 DiGiovanno guided him into the ancient world of Armenia, Greece, Egypt, and India.

During the 1940s, he earned a meager income as an organist at the St. James Armenian Church in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he studied the art of ancient Armenian music, further expanding his interests in Eastern music and Eastern culture. Tragically, it was at this point in his life that Hovhaness repudiated his early works, destroying most of them (about one thousand scores in all!).

Later he became a professor at the Boston Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.   In 1954 he wrote the score for the Broadway play, The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets, and then two scores for NBC documentaries. His biggest breakthrough came in 1955, when his Symphony No. 2, Mysterious Mountain, was commissioned for Leopold Stokowski's debut with the Houston Symphony. That year MGM Records released recordings of a number of his works.

From 1966 until his death in 2000 he was composer-in-residence with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. As a tribute to his musical genius Hovhaness received numerous awards from American institutions, such as the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Guggenheim Foundation, Fulbright Scholar, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Hovhaness’ compositions exceed 500, including 9 operas, 2 ballets, and 67 symphonies. Summing up Hovhaness’ rich musical career Time Magazine wrote “No other American composer has absorbed the breadth of musical history as Hovhaness nor has or been temperamentally equipped to express his response to it so naturally.”

His music is accessible to the lay listener and often invokes a mood of mystery or contemplation. Boston Globe music critic Richard Buell wrote: “Although he has been stereotyped as a self-consciously Armenian composer (rather as Ernest Bloch is seen as a Jewish composer), his output assimilates the music of many cultures. What may be most American about all of it is the way it turns its materials into a kind of exoticism. The atmosphere is hushed, reverential, mystical, nostalgic.”

As part of its Armenian Diaspora Music Project, the Armenian Cultural Foundation initiated the idea of developing the Alan Hovhaness Collection in 2009 on the occasion of and concurrent with erecting a memorial dedicated to the composer in his hometown Arlington, Massachusetts in 2009.

The Alan Hovhaness Collection catalogue presented here is one of the four largest and most comprehensive collections of documents on the life and artistic legacy of the composer. The other three centers with major holdings are the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the University of Seattle in the State of Washington, and the Charents Museum of Literature and Arts, Yerevan, Armenia.

Click here for The Alan Hovhaness Collection.

Works

Partial List of Compositions

• 1936 (rev. 1954) –Prelude and Quadruple Fugue (orchestra), Op. 128
• 1936 –Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 17
• 1936 –Exile (Symphony No. 1) Op. 17, No.2
• 1940 –Psalm and Fugue, Op. 40a
• 1940 –Alleluia and Fugue, Op. 40b
• 1944 –Lousadzak (Concerto for piano and strings), Op. 48
• 1945 –Mihr (for two pianos)
• 1946 –Prayer of St. Gregory, Op. 62b, for trumpet and strings (interlude from the opera Etchmiadzin)
  • –Arjuna (Symphony No. 8) for piano, timpani and orch., Op. 179
  • 1949–50 – Vartan Symphony (No. 9), Op. 180
• 1950 –Janabar (Sinfonia Concertante for piano, trumpet, violin and strings), Op. 81
• 1951 –Khaldis, Op. 91, for piano, four trumpets, and percussion
• 1953 –Concerto No. 7 (Orchestra), Op. 116
• 1954 –Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Op. 123, No. 3
• 1955 –Mysterious Mountain (Symphony No. 2), Op. 132
• 1957 – Symphony No. 4, Op. 165
• 1958 –Meditation on Orpheus, Op. 155
• 1958 –Magnificat (SATB soli, SATB choir and orchestra), Op. 157
• 1959 – Symphony No. 6,Celestial Gate, Op. 173
• 1959 – Symphony No. 7,Nanga Parvat, for symphonic wind band, Op. 178
• 1960 – Symphony No. 11,All Men are Brothers, Op. 186
• 1963 –The Silver Pilgrimage (Symphony No. 15), Op. 199
• 1965 –Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints for xylophone and orchestra, Op. 211
• 1966 –Vishnu Symphony (No. 19), Op. 217
• 1967 –Fra Angelico, Op. 220
• 1968 –Mountains and Rivers without End, Chamber Symphony for 10 players, Op. 225
• 1969 –Lady of Light (soli, chorus, and orch), Op. 227
• 1969 –Shambala, Concerto for violin, sitar, and orchestra, Op. 228
• 1970 –And God Created Great Whales (taped whale songs and orchestra), Op. 229
• 1970 –Symphony Etchmiadzin (Symphony No. 21), Op. 234
• 1970 –Symphony No. 22, City of Light, Op. 236
• 1971 –Saturn  243 for soprano, clarinet, and piano
• 1973 –Majnun Symphony (Symphony No. 24), Op. 273
• 1979 –Guitar Concerto No. 1, Op. 325
• 1982 –Symphony No. 50, Mount St. Helens, Op. 360
• 1985 –Guitar Concerto No. 2 for guitar and strings, Op. 394
• 1985 –Symphony No. 60, To the Appalachian Mountains, Op. 396
• 1992 –Symphony No. 66, Hymn to Glacier Peak, Op. 428

Films about Alan Hovhaness

• 1984 –Alan Hovhaness. Directed by Jean Walkinshaw, KCTS-TV, Seattle.
• 1986 –Whalesong. Directed by Barbara Willis Sweete, Rhombus Media.
• 1990 –The Verdehr Trio: The Making of a Medium. Program 1:  Lake Samish Trio/Alan Hovhaness. Directed by Lisa Lorraine Whiting, Michigan State University.
• 2006 –A Tribute to Alan Hovhaness. Produced by Alexan Zakyan, Hovhaness Research Centre, Yerevan, Armenia.

Films with scores by Alan Hovhaness

• 1955 –Assignment: India. NBC-TV documentary.
• 1956 –Narcissus. Directed by Willard Maas.
• 1957 –Assignment: Southeast Asia. NBC-TV documentary.
• 1962 –Pearl Lang and Francisco Moncion dance performance:  Black Marigolds. From the CBS television program Camera Three, presented in cooperation with the New York State Education Department. Directed by Nick Havinga.
• 1966 –Nehru: Man of Two Worlds. From The Twentieth Century series; reporter: Walter Cronkite. A presentation of CBS News.
• 1973 –Tales From a Book of Kings: The Houghton Shah-Nameh. New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art and Time-Life Multimedia.
• 1982 –Everest North Wall. Directed by Laszlo Pal.
• 1984 –Winds of Everest. Directed by Laszlo Pal.
• 2005 –I Remember Theodore Roethke. Produced and edited by Jean Walkinshaw, KCTS Public Television, Seattle.

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship (1953)

American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Prize (1951)

Hakob Karapents (1925-1994)

The Armenian Culturan Foundation includes the private library of prolific diaspora Armenian writer Hakob Karapents. In a special setting, the writer’s private study was moved from his home in Watertown, Massachusetts to the Foundation in 1996. In addition to the Karapents library are the writer’s desk, memorabilia, and some personal effects. Hakob Karapents (ne Hakob Karapetian) was born in Tabriz, Iran.

He moved to the United States in 1947 in pursuit of higher education and studied at the Kansas City University, majoring in journalism. Later he moved to New York, where he attended classes at Columbia University. Accepting an offer from the U.S. government, Karapents took a position with the Voice of America, Armenian Service, and then assumed the post of Chief of the Service which lasted for a quarter of a century (1954-1979). After retirement, he moved to Connecticut where he wrote weekly columns for the New Milford Times, and later settled in Watertown, Massachusetts until his untimely death in 1994.

Karapents is the author of numerous articles, essays, book reviews, and commentaries in Armenian and English which have appeared numerous Armenian periodicals, among them Hairenik Daily, Armenian Review, Armenian Weekly, Nor Gyank, Bagin, and several English language dailies and weeklies published in the Eastern United States. His major works are:

• Antsanot’ hoginer [Strange Souls] (Beirut, 1970).
• Kart’ageni dustre [Daughter of Carthage] (Beirut, 1972).
• Nor Ashkharhi hin sermnats’annere [Old Sowers of the New World] (Beirut, 1975).
• Mijnarar [Interlude] (New York, 1981).
• Adami girk’e [Adam’s Book] (New York, 1983).
• Amerikean shurjpar (American Rondo] (New York, 1986).
• Ankatar [Incomplete] (New York, 1987).
• Erku ashkharh, grakan p’ordzagrut’iunner [Two World: Literary Essays] (Watertown, Massachusetts, 1992).
• Mi Mard u mi erkir ew ayl patmutsk'ner [A Man and a Country and Other Short Stories] (Watertown, Massachusetts, 1994).
• Return and Tiger (Watertown, Massachusetts, 1994).
• The Widening Circle and Other Early Short Stories. (Arlington, Massachusetts, 2008).
• Mtorumner [Ruminations] (Arlington, Massachusetts, 2009).

Works on Karapents

• Ara Ghazarians, comp., and ed. Hakob Karapents Bibliography. (Watertown, Massachusetts, 1999).
• Anahid Aramuni Keshishian, Hakob Karapents Ashkharh ěnkalumě ew arvestě [Hakob Karapents: His Worldview and Art]. (Yerevan, 1999).
• T’oros T’oranian, Hay grakanut’ean khshshats’ogh bartin, Hakob Karapents’, 1925-1994: dzon iram ardzakagri tsnndean 80 ameakin [Rattling Oak of the Armenian Literature: Hakob Karapents, 1925-1994: Ode on the Occasion of His 80th Anniversary] (Halep, 2006).

Click here for The Hakob Karapents Collection

Beatrice Ohanessian (1927- 2008)

Beatrice Ohanessian was born in 1927 in Baghdad, Iraq.  Her father, born in Iran, had settled in Baghdad after a time in India. Her mother and two maternal uncles were survivors of the Armenian Genocide. She received her early music training from the Institute of Fine Arts majoring in piano.  Upon graduating, she served as assistant to her Romanian piano instructor, Julien Hertz. Beatrice received the first musical scholarship awarded to an Iraqi citizen which allowed her to continue her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Professor Max Pirani.  Four years later, she earned her L.R.A.M. (Licentiate from the Royal Academy of Music) in performance and pedagogy, with a major in piano and a second major in voice.  In addition, she was awarded the Frederick Westlake Memorial Prize for her piano exam.

Upon receiving a Fulbright Scholarship, she continued her higher education at the Julliard School of Music in New York City.  Returning to Iraq, Beatrice was appointed the head of the Piano Section of Western Music at the Institute of Fine Arts in Iraq where she taught until 1989.  During her summer breaks, she participated in Master classes in Austria, Spain, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Iran.  In 1961, she became principal concert pianist for the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, a post she held for over thirty years as well as a regular soloist for the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the organist for Armenian Churches in London, Baghdad, Geneva, and St. Paul, Minnesota.

From 1969 to 1972, Beatrice taught at the University of Minnesota and Macalester College.  Then she spent the next two years teaching in Geneva and performing as a soloist through Switzerland.

Her successful career as a concert pianist and solo performer with orchestras took her to all of the countries of the Middle East as well as the countries of Europe, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. She has given performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia also, the former Soviet Republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.

In 1979 she performed several compositions of her own in her homeland and abroad as well, both on her own and accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of Iraq. For many years, Ohanessian collaborated with European and American cultural centers in Iraq, including those of French, British, Spanish, Russian, Czech, German (Goethe Institute) as well as with the cultural centers of several Arab countries.

During the Iraq-Iran War in 1980, she wrote the first Iraqi Western composition. Her work came to the attention of Iraqi officials, including president Saddam Hussein. When asked what reward she would like for her achievements, she requested a better piano. She was presented with a Steinway grand piano, which she left behind as she settled in the United States after the first Gulf War (1990-1991). The spring before she died, the piano, which had been kept safe by one of her friends in the Iraqi National Symphony, finally arrived in Minnesota, stuffed with several of her evening gowns.

As Iraq’s first female composer, her compositions were performed at the International Festival in Babylon, Iraq.  The Ministry of Culture and Information in Baghdad and the Artists’ Union honored Beatrice as a pioneer and the first concert artist in Iraq.

In 1994, Beatrice and her sister Sita moved to Edina, Minnesota, settling in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, where she joined her brother Arsham and his wife Charlotte. In 1995, Beatrice resumed teaching at the University of Minnesota, Macalester College as well as the University of St. She became a U.S. citizen in 2002.

Ohanessian died of cancer in 2008, in Bloomington, at the age of 81.

Click here for The Beatrice Ohanessian Collection

Arsen S. Sayan (1925-2018)

Born in Aleppo, Syria, of Daron parentage, Arsen Sayan attended the local Mkhitarist Fathers School and in 1949 graduated from the Armenian Theological Seminary of the Cilician Catholicosate of Antelias, Lebanon. Returning to Aleppo he taught Armenian language, history and music in various Armenian national institutions – St. Joseph Armenian Catholic Secondary School; Gulbenkian, Haykazian, and Zavarian Elementary Schools, and Karen Jeppe College. During that period, he was director of the 50-voice male choir of the Armenian Cathedral of Aleppo, and founder-director of the 90-voice Shoghakan Chorus, which he directed for seven years.

Moving to the United States in 1957, Sayan took residence in Philadelphia, where he served for a number of years as choirmaster at st. Gregory Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church. In 1960, he founded the Knar Armenian Choral Group, followed by the Ani Armenian Choral Group of Washington, D. C. in 1970. The two groups were re-established in 1988 and performed jointly (together) and separately.  In 2000, the Knar-Ani joint chorals marked the fiftieth anniversary of Sayan’s dedicated service to the Armenian musical culture and heritage.

In the interim, (1963-66), Sayan also studied in the Komitas Conservatory of Music in Yerevan, majoring in choral direction with first-class honors and a dissertation titled “Armenian Religious Music of the Middle Ages,” which was performed upon graduation.

In addition he was a staff member of the Voice of America, Armenian Service, in Washington, D. C. He retired in 1995 from the U. S. Information Agency, Washington, D. C. after serving for 25 years as musical-cultural director and chief producer of the VoA’s Armenian Service.

In October 1996 Maestro Sayan participated in a 10-day convocation of musical and celebratory events marking the 75th anniversary of Komitas Conservatory. He was instrumental in establishing the Knar-Ani Scholarship Fund at the Conservatory.

In September 2014 the Argavand Music School of Ararat community, in Tavush Province, Armenia, renovated by FAR (Fund for Armenian Relief) through a generous donation of Sayan was, renamed after him.

He died in 2018 in his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Awards

1970   Komitas Vardapet Medal by His Holiness Khoren I, Catholicos of the

Holy Sea of Cilicia.

1980   Mesrop Mashtots by His Holiness Khoren I of the Holy Sea of Cilicia.

Click here for The Arsen Sayan Collection

Berj Zamkochian (1929-2004)

One of the most prominent American organists of the past half-century, Berj Zamkochian was born in 1929 in Boston. The son of first-generation Armenian immigrants (his father had escaped from the Turkish genocide of 1915 by disguising himself as a woman), Zamkochian graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and joined the staff of its organ faculty while he completed his graduate studies. At age 24, Zamkochian gave a debut recital in Symphony Hall, Boston, earning himself a review in The Boston Globe which placed him “well among the top organists of the day”. It was the beginning of an illustrious career of enthusiastic concertizing.

In 1957 Charles Munch named Zamkochian, not yet 30, organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Arthur Fiedler appointed him to the same position with the Boston Pops. His account of Saint-Saëns’ Third Symphony, with the BSO under Munch, is regarded as a classic, as is his performance of the Poulenc’s Organ Concerto: the RCA CD that re-released them together was hailed by The New York Times as “one of the 50 most important recordings of all time”.

Appointed organist of the World Symphony Orchestra in 1971 (representing the BSO), Zamkochian played in the concerts that opened the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Disney World, Orlando, Florida, and the Avery Fisher Hall in the Lincoln Center in New York. He was no stranger to inaugural concerts, giving the dedicatory recitals on some of the most important new organs in North America. But the inauguration that must have meant the most to him was that of the organ of the Cathedral of the Holy Ejmiatsin in Armenia, the Seat of the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians. Another superlative came in 1983, when he dedicated the world’s largest organ, in the Temple of the Shinji Schumei Kai in Shiga, Japan, before an audience of 40,000. Other organs which enjoyed dedicatory recitals from Zamkochian included those in the twelfth-century Abbey Church of St. Nicholas in Brauweiller, and the Cathedrals in Altenberg and Ingolstadt, in Germany. Another ceremonial concert which must have meant a good deal to Zamkochian was that which inaugurated the organ of the Monastic Church of the Armenian Mekhitarist Order on the island of San Lazzaro in Venice.

In 1970 Zamkochian set up the Gomidas Organ Fund (named after the

Armenian priest-composer, Gomidas or Komitas (1869-1935) Vardapet), to raise money to supply organs to Armenian churches throughout the world. He began by donating practice organs to the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan. By the time of his death he had paid for, or contributed to, organs in no fewer than 14 churches in Armenia, as well as in Venice, the United States, Switzerland, and Lebanon.

The earthquake, which hit Armenia in 1988, killed no fewer than 72 members of his extended family. His efforts for the devastating earthquake relief fund were tireless. His summer home at Cape Porpoise, Maine, was near that of George H. W. Bush (1924-2018), then newly elected 41st President of the USA, at Kennebunkport, where the local church asked Zamkochian to play at the services when the President was in attendance. He agreed on condition that his fee went to the relief fund, for the purchase of wheelchairs. The request somehow filtered through to the President and resulted in a number of invitations to dinner.

Among other world dignitaries, Zamkochian played for, Pope John-Paul II which began with the Pontiff’s first visit to the United States, in 1987. The next took place under rather different circumstances. In 2001 as the Armenians worldwide, celebrated the 1700th anniversary of adoption of Christianity as their state religion in 301 AD, Zamkochian was scheduled to perform before the Supreme Patriarch of the Armenians and the Pope on this historic occasion anniversary on 12 September 2001. He, thanks to British Airways, managed to get out of the USA despite the post-9/11 attack confusion and make his way to Armenia. Before his recital, in the Cathedral of the Holy Ejmiatsin, he had consulted an ex-student of his of Polish extraction and, when the weary Pope sat down near the organ console, Zamkochian began to play a Polish hymn. He was rewarded with a pontifical beam.

Armenia in turn recognized Zamkochian’s efforts with a series of distinctions. In 1980 he was the first non-native Armenian to be granted membership of the Armenian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Three years later the government bestowed on him the Petros Adamian Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts. And in 1991 he was named a People’s Artist and Honorary Soloist of the Independent Republic of Armenia.

Zamkochian was a deeply religious man – part of his education had been undertaken in a seminary – who never wed; he was married to his music, he once explained to his niece. He would rise at 4 a.m. for prayers; after a light breakfast he would then practice until midday. He was also a gourmet cook, but even in the kitchen his prayer-book was never far away. His faith stood him in good stead when he discovered he had terminal cancer, and his theological learning was such that the priest whom he consulted confessed that he was following rather than leading.
The cancer first manifested itself as a painfully swollen left foot, initially diagnosed as gout before it metastasized through his body. On his last performance for the Pope, in Rome on 22 November 2004, Zamkochian was hobbling to the organ console when the Pope asked him: “Will you be able to play?” He answered: “If you can talk, I can play”. The Pope then embraced him and kissed him on the cheek. The show went on, of course – but it was to be Zamkochian’s last concert.

About Berj Zamkochian

“The Man and His Art: Berj Zhamkochian,” Kroonk 3 (1980): 22-23.

Click here for The Berj Zamkochian Collection

Lucine Amara (1927- )

Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised. She studied at the San Francisco's Community Music School under Stella Eisner-Eyn and sang in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera, 1945–46. In 1946, Amara made her concert debut at the War Memorial Opera House. Continuing her studies at the Music Academy of the West with Richard Bonelli in 1947, she won a contest to appear at the Hollywood Bowl in 1948. She continued as a student at the University of Southern California and as a soloist for the San Francisco Symphony for the following two years. Amara appeared in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos and as Lady Billows in Britten's Albert Herring in 1949.

Amara made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the "Voice from Heaven" in Verdi's Don Carlos, the opening night of Sir Rudolf Bing's inaugural season as general manager, on November 6, 1950. She continued at the Met over the course of 41 seasons until 1991, singing 56 roles in 882 appearances, nearly 60 of which were broadcast on radio and television. Appearing regularly as Micaëla in Carmen, Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly, and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Antonia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Nedda in Pagliacci, Mimi in La bohème, her repertoire also included Leonora in Il trovatore and Aida.

In the mid-1970s, Amara was given only a "cover" contract – essentially a contract to be a stand-by for an indisposed singer – and was scheduled for fewer and fewer performances. In 1976 at the age of 51, she successfully sued the Met for age discrimination, but sang only sporadically with the company after that, and was absent from the roster from 1977 until 1981. In the last years of her Met career, she sang only one or two performances a season (one performance each in 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1991, and two in 1987; the 1985 performance took place at the Kennedy Center where the Met was on tour; the 1986 performance was presented by the Met in Brooklyn's Prospect Park). Amara did not appear with the company at its Lincoln Center home between 1983 and 1987.

Amara also performed in Europe, Asia, and South America, including at Glyndebourne (1954–55, 1957–58), the Edinburgh Festival (1954), the Vienna State Opera (1960), Russia (1965), and China (1983.)

Amara made a few recordings, notably as Musetta in La bohème, opposite Victoria de los Ángeles, Jussi Björling and Robert Merrill under Thomas Beecham, and as Elsa in Lohengrin, opposite Sandor Konya, Rita Gorr, Jerome Hines under Erich Leinsdorf. She recorded the role of Nedda in Pagliacci twice, opposite Richard Tucker in 1951 and opposite Franco Corelli in 1960. Amara was also recorded singing the soprano solo in Verdi's Messa da Requiem. Made in 1964–65, the recording also features Maureen Forrester (Mezzo-Soprano), Richard Tucker (Tenor), George London (Bass), and the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy.

After retiring, Amara became the artistic director of the New Jersey Association of Verismo and taught master classes in the United States, Canada and Mexico. On January 23, 2005, she performed as a special guest artist with the Musica Bella Orchestra. The Times called Amara "the greatest lyric soprano of our time." Time Magazine wrote that "she brought to the stage the kind of dazzling vocal splendor that made the Met famous. In 1989 she was inducted into the Academy of Vocal Arts Hall of Fame.

Alice Odabashian (1912-2007)

Born in Razgrad, Bulgaria, Alice Odabashian graduated from the Gevorgian Seminary of Ejmiatsin and subsequently the Nersisian School of Tbilisi. She taught in Yerevan and later in Moscow for fifteen years. After a temporary stay in Constantinople, the Odabashians settled permanently in Bulgaria, where she attended girls the prestigious Boluglasicheska Gymnasium in Plovdiv.  She began her literary career by translating a total of 36 pieces of poetry and religious articles published in the paper Jrag for the Bulgarian Evangelical paper Zornitsa . Her other translations include an anthology of poetry by the prominent Armenian poet, Silva Kaputikian (1981). She was a member of the Writers Union of Armenia, and the author of a number of books. These include:

Works

• Hatentir banasteghtsuteants’ [Collection of Poetries] (Los Angeles, 1994).
• Ashnan tsaghikner [Autumn Flowers] (Los Angeles, 1990).
• Bats’ Patuhan [Open Window] (Los Angeles, 1988).
• Karoti Husher [Memories of Longing] (Los Angeles, 1987).
• Songs for You (1979).
• Lyrical Poetry of Sylva Gaboudigian (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, 1981).

Click here for The Alice Odabashian Collection