World-Renowned Artist Kevork Mourad to Perform Live at ANCA-ER Banquet

Silent Auction to Feature Paintings by Mourad, Grigorian, Vahramian, and Others

NEW YORK, N.Y.—World-renowned artist Kevork Mourad will perform live at the 8th annual Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Eastern Region Banquet, melding music and painting in a unique style that has captivated audiences the world over.

Kevork Mourad will perform live at the ANCA-ER banquet in New York City on Sun., Dec. 7.

“We are excited and honored that Kevork Mourad will join us to perform his special live art show at this year’s gala,” said ANCA-ER Board member James Sahagian. “We are particularly proud that he has chosen our venue to showcase three of his important pieces, along with those of several other artists—all committed to promoting the Armenian Cause through the arts.”

Kevork Mourad holds a MFA degree from the Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts in Armenia, and currently lives and works in New York. His most recent exhibits were group shows at White Box Gallery in New York City and at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

With his technique of spontaneous painting—a collaboration in which art and music develop in counterpoint to each other—Mourad has shared the stage with world class musicians, among them Yo-Yo Ma, Kinan Azmeh, Ezequiel Viñao, Tambuco, Brooklyn Rider, Mari Kimura, Ken Ueno, and Liubo Borissov. He has performed at many renowned venues, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Chelsea Museum of Art, the Bronx Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Chess Festival of Mexico City, and the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art in Yerevan.

Six of Mourad’s pieces are in permanent residency at the Gyumri Museum in Armenia, and several more at the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown, Mass. His digital piece, “The Map of Future Movements,” toured as part of a group exhibition in Jerusalem and Ramallah, and was in the 2010 Liverpool Biennial.

"The Family" by Armen Vahramian — “The Family” by Armen Vahramian

As a teaching artist with the Silk Road, he has worked with public school students throughout the five boroughs of New York, and has been called back many times as a favorite visiting artist. In 2010 and 2011, with actress/singer Anaïs Tekerian of Zulal, he co-produced and created two multi-media plays, “Tangled Yarn” and “Waterlogged,” which premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival and toured San Francisco and the Berkshires. His most recent performance, “Home Within,” created with Kinan Azmeh, has been touring Europe and North America for the past year.

Three of Mourad’s pieces will be featured at the banquet silent auction. Paintings by other renowned Armenian artists, such as Armen Vahramian, Alexander O. Grigorian, Eduard Kharpetian, Mary Melikian, and Aghassi, will also be showcased by Berge Zobian of Gallery Z in Rhode Island.

The ANCA Eastern Region Banquet will begin with an elegant cocktail reception and silent auction at 4 p.m., followed by dinner and an awards ceremony at 6 p.m. To purchase tickets or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit www.anca.org/erbanquet. For more information, e-mail erbanquet@anca.org or call (917) 428-1918.

The ANCA Eastern Region Endowment Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization that supports the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region in outreach to Armenian-American communities.