We regret to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances the Naghash Ensemble concert in London has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. You still have the chance to see the ensemble perform in Oxford on May 30. For more information, please see https://bit.ly/naghash-oxford.
“The Sound of Ancient Armenia reinvented for the 21st Century” — Tigran Mansurian
Live at Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre on May 11, 2022
YEREVAN/NEW YORK—Their concerts have been described as “a deeply moving mix of Armenian folk and spiritual music with new classical music” by Germany’s most prominent classical music radio station, BR Klassik, and as “a moment of grace and meditation” by Rolling Stone. Or as the French Trans Musicales summarizes: “The spiritual beauty of the music provokes a mix of joy and ecstasy.” On May 11, 2022, at 7:30 pm, The Naghash Ensemble will present their “Songs of Exile” for the first time at Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre in London.
Based in Yerevan, The Naghash Ensemble features three brilliant female vocalists and some of Armenia’s finest instrumentalists on duduk, oud, dhol, and piano, playing new music by American-Armenian composer John Hodian. The music is based on sacred texts by the medieval Armenian mystic poet and priest, Mkrtich Naghash, and is a profound meditation on man's relationship with God from the perspective of a monk forced to live in exile for many years.
“The idea for The Naghash Ensemble came when I first heard Hasmik Baghdasaryan singing in Garni temple outside of Yerevan, Armenia,” says John Hodian. “She was singing medieval Armenian spiritual music and it was mesmerizing. The sound remained in my mind for days after and I was determined to write something that would use this sound in a new way.” He spent several years looking for the right text to set to music until he finally came across a fragment of a little-known Armenian medieval poet named Mkrtich Naghash. “Those words leapt off the page and into my soul and I knew I had found my text.”
Setting Mkrtich Naghash’s words to new music, Hodian followed his intuition: “It’s the natural product of someone who was raised listening to Armenian Music in the home, studying European classical music in his youth, making a living as a jazz improviser but like all of us constantly surrounded by contemporary rock music.” The result has been described as “The Sound of Ancient Armenia reinvented for the 21st century,” by Armenia’s most renowned composer Tigran Mansurian.
Watch a preview of the ensemble performing one of their new pieces live in Ghent here:
For more information about The Naghash Ensemble, please visit: www.naghashensemble.com
High-resolution photos can be found here: http://naghashensemble.com/press-photos
Sound files and video files upon request: wiebke@naghashensemble.com
If you would like more information, to interview the band or to review the concert, please contact:
Wiebke Zollmann
+49 152 04 13 1894
wiebke@naghashensemble.com
www.naghashensemble.com