Dilijan Series’ Anniversary Season Opener Highlights Benjamin Britten

The critically acclaimed Dilijan Chamber Music Series announced its 15th Anniversary Season’s opening concert. Two masterworks of Benjamin Britten, who loved vacationing in Dilijan, Armenia in the 1960s at the invitation of Shostakovich and Rostropovich, book-end the program of the concert: his early “Phantasy” (1932) for Oboe Quartet, as well as his final completed work, the astonishing “String Quartet No. 3” (1975). The concert will be held on September 29 at 3 p.m., at Zipper Hall.

Additionally, Haydn’s “Dream” String Quartet, Op. 50, No. 5, and Vache Sharafyan’s West Coast Premiere of Nighttime Illuminations for Violin and Viola will be performed. The distinguished artists are violinists Varty Manouelian (LA Philharmonic) and Movses Pogossian (Dilijan Artistic Director and UCLA Professor of Violin), violist Che-Yen Chen (Formosa Quartet and UCLA Professor of Viola), cellist Clive Greensmith (Colburn Professor and former Tokyo Quartet member), and Los Angeles Philharmonic oboist Anne Marie Gabriele, in her Dilijan Series debut.

The 15th Anniversary Season of the Dilijan Series presents an exciting mix of old and new, known and unknown. Beloved masterpieces of Western classical music by Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Haydn will be performed alongside works by Komitas, Arutiunian, Mansurian, Sharafyan, and other Armenian composers. In addition to some of Dilijan favorite returning artists such as singers Tony Arnold and Shoushik Barsoumian, pianist Steven Vanhauwaert, violist Paul Coletti, cellists Antonio Lysy, Clive Greensmith and Peter Stumpf, the Series will be welcoming several musicians in their Dilijan debut: LA Phil oboist Anne Gabriele, remarkable pianist and Artistic Director of the Yellow Barn Festival Seth Knopp, Canadian violinist/violist Scott St. John, clarinetist Yasmina Spiegelberg (Switzerland), cellist Yoshika Masuda (Japan), among others. The three Dilijan commissions of the season are works by Martin Ulikhanyan (homage to Tigran Mansurian’s film music), Dan Sedgwick, and a short film by Alik Barsoumian, which will be premiered alongside live performance of the Prelude from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde opera.

Established in 2005 by members of the Lark Musical Society (Vatsche Barsoumian, Founder/Director), the Dilijan Chamber Music Series is dedicated to showcasing traditional masterworks of Wester classical chamber music, as well as pearls from the treasury of Armenian music. A strong believer in new music, the Series has commissioned and premiered 54 works since its inception. For more information and ticketing, please visit the website. There is ample paid parking available in the nearby garages, including Disney Hall across the street from the Colburn School. Enjoy visiting Dilijan YouTube channel for a large selection of performances from the previous seasons.