April 12 WT World Music Festival to Highlight Armenia

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

CANYON, Texas - The sounds of Armenia will be celebrated at West Texas A&M University's second World Music Festival.

The festival will begin at 3 p.m. Aug. 12 with a concert featuring Armenian concert pianist Dr. Hayk Arsenyan in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall on WT's Canyon campus.

Admission is free. For information, call 806-651-2840.

Organizer Mila Abbasova, instructor of music theory and piano, is Armenian by birth but grew up in Azerbaijan.

"I grew up in a very international atmosphere, and my piano teacher was a very famous Armenian," Abbasova said. "We always played music from Eastern Europe, but I never actually performed Armenian music in recital, so this is a very special concert for me.

"Music from my homeland touches my heart and brings memories back," she said.

The concert also will feature the WT Symphonic Band, directed by Don Lefevre, associate professor of music and director of bands, as well as performances by Jessica Schury Peckham, assistant professor of flute; Dr. Jenny Miller, adjunct professor of harp; and Kanani Crandall, WT alumna.

Arsenyan, a New York-based pianist and composer, has appeared in numerous recitals throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas, in venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Salle Cortot (Paris), the Concourse (Sydney), Cadillac-Shanghai Concert Hall (China), Kumin Hall (Tokyo), Petranka Mozarteum (Prague), Auditorio Delibes (Valladolid), Dar-Al-Assad Opera House (Damascus), Sala Cervantes (Havana), MoBU (Sao Paolo), Tchaikovsky Hall (Moscow), Philippines National Museum (Bacolod), and televised recitals at the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, the Phillips Collection Series in Washington, D.C., and at the Nixon Presidential Museum in Los Angeles.

At the age of 11, Arsenyan made his debut at the Armenian Philharmonic performing his own "Requiem" for the piano and orchestra. At the age of 17, he made his European debut as a soloist with the Radio France National Philharmonic Orchestra and was awarded a platinum medal by the City of Paris. In 2007, Arsenyan debuted at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall performing with Pinchas Zukerman and the Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia.

A long-time professor at New York University's Tisch School, Arsenyan has presented guest lectures and masterclasses at universities and conservatories around the globe.

Fostering an appreciation of the arts is a key component of the University's long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign, which is now winding down, has raised more than $175 million.

About West Texas A&M University

A Regional Research University, West Texas A&M University is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor's and master's degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men's and women's athletics programs.

Photo: Guest performers for West Texas A&M University's second World Music Festival include, from left, Dr. Hayk Arsenyan, Jessica Schury Peckham and Dr. Jenny Miller.

-WT-