BOSTON—The Friends of Armenian Culture Society will present the 71st annual Armenian Night at the Pops on Wednesday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m. at Boston’s Symphony Hall.
Pianist Marta Aznavoorian will be the guest soloist appearing with the Boston Pops Orchestra. She will join the orchestra and conductor Keith Lockhart in a performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, marking the 100th anniversary of the iconic American masterpiece.
The orchestra and maestro Lockhart will also perform the Hayr Mer (Lord’s Prayer) by Magar Yegmalian, arranged by Rouben Gregorian. As a special guest for the evening, 109-year-old Mary Vartanian, a Genocide survivor who was recently honored at the State House Genocide Commemoration Ceremony, will be in attendance with her family.
Complementing the program, two-time Tony Award-winner and Broadway sensation Sutton Foster will also grace the stage of Symphony Hall for an evening that explores the Great American Songbook and beyond.
Praised as “a pianist of exceptionally finished technique and purity of musical impulse,” (Boston Globe), Armenian American pianist Aznavoorian is known for her inspired, spirited playing and vast emotional reach. The multi-Grammy-nominated artist has performed to critical acclaim throughout the world as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She made her professional debut at the age of 13, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of Sir George Solti. She then went on to perform with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Chicago Symphony and many others, including an engagement with the New World Symphony at the invitation of Michael Tilson Thomas.
Aznavoorian has many awards and accolades, including first prize in the Stravinsky International Competition and the special prize for best interpretation of the commissioned contemporary work. As a recipient of the Level 1 award in the National Foundation of the Arts talent search, Aznavoorian became a Presidential Scholar. She was invited to the White House, where she met former President George H. W. Bush and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. With expressive energy and originality, Aznavoorian has recorded extensively for Naxos, Warner Classics and Erato and just released her seventh album with Cedille Records.
A champion and lover of contemporary music, she has recorded music and premiers by the world’s leading composers of our time including William Bolcom, Osvaldo Golijov, Augusta Read Thomas, Shulamit Ran, Stacy Garrop, Joan Tower and Jennifer Higdon, among others.
A student of the renowned teacher Menahem Pressler, Aznavoorian received her bachelor’s degree in music and artist diploma from Indiana University and a master’s degree in music from New England Conservatory. As a dedicated educator and philanthropist, she gives lessons and masterclasses across the United States and abroad. She is on faculty at DePaul University and the Music Institute of Chicago, where she is also an Artist in Residence.
