Sayat Nova’s ETERNAL ROSE

SAYAT NOVA’S ETERNAL ROSE will be a musical evening with the Kerovpyan Trio from the Kotchnak Ensemble featuring vocalist Virginia Pattie Kerovpyan, kanounist Aram Kerovpyan and percussionist Vahan Kerovpyan. The ensemble formed in 1980 in Paris and specializes in Armenian folk and troubadour music. Each performance is a unique experience in that they follow the tradition of perpetual recreation by means of improvisation. Sayat Nova (1722-1795) was a musician and poet at the Georgian court who later became a priest. He was one of the rare ashough-troubadours whose poems have reached us. Of the numerous poems copied in his notebook, only 27 have melodies today, having survived through the oral tradition.

VIRGINIA PATTIE KEROVPYAN was born in Washington, D.C. and moved to Paris in the 1970’s. She has performed and recorded with various early music, as well as contemporary music, ensembles. Soloist of the Kotchnak and Akn ensembles, she has specialized in Armenian song since 1980. Her interpretation brings to the forefront the essence of this music, making its discovery and transmission more accessible.

ARAM KEROVPYAN was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He learned to play the kanoun and studied the Near Easternmusic system with Master musician Saadeddin Öktenay. Moving to Paris, he joined the Kotchnak ensemble, performing Armenian folk and troubadour music, and in 1985 established the Akn ensemble specializing in Armenian liturgical chant. He has been the master-singer of the Armenian cathedral in Paris since 1990. He is active in the world of theater as musician, teacher, and composer. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology and publishes about modal theory and the history of Armenian liturgical music.

For more information, call (818) 243-4112.