Nareh Arghamanyan to perform debut recital at Frick Collection

by Ara Arakelian

Published: Friday November 20, 2009

Nareh Arghamanyan. www.frick.org

Boston - When 20-year-old pianist Nareh Arghamanyan takes the stage at New York's Frick Collection for her professional debut recital on Nov. 22, she will have come full circle in a journey that began six years ago. In November 2003, the unassuming yet resilient prodigy from Vanadzor, Armenia, played a benefit recital to an audience of 500 at Hunter College a few blocks away.

Six years of intense study in Vienna and several piano competition prizes later, Arghamanyan's achievements include participation in prestigious music camps and festivals such as Tanglewood and Marlboro, the release of a solo CD album, and signing with a professional artist management firm. Her New York recital is part of a North American concert tour that, so far, has taken her to concert halls in Montreal, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Fresno, Santa Rosa, and Kalamazoo, with more engagements to come. Judging by the results - her CD and concerts have received rave reviews and some presenters have already invited her back - it appears Arghamanyan is on her way to join the select group of emerging young pianists on the classical music scene today who have captivated listeners with their artistry and individual voice.

Nareh enrolled in the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna at age 15, being one of the youngest to enter the acclaimed institution. Years of hard work resulted in numerous awards and competition prizes, most notably the Herbert Von Karajan Foundation scholarship and the top prize at the 2008 Montreal International Piano Competition. As part of her prize, she recorded and released a recital CD album for the Canadian label Analekta, featuring electrifying performances of sonatas by Rachmaninoff and Liszt, two of the most challenging and romantic music pieces ever written for the piano.

In reviewing the album, La Scene Musicale wrote: "Arghamanyan meets the daunting demands of these two ultra-Romantic pieces with a combination of technical bravura, singing tone, and poetic expression."

In her New York recital, Nareh will characteristically probe introspective and monumental works by Bach (Partita No. 4), Schumann (Humoresque), Beethoven (Sonata No. 31) and Liszt (Ballade No. 2).

1-212-547-0715 www.frick.org