Hovsepian to Perform Khachaturian Concerto with Concord Orchestra

CONCORD, Mass.—The winter Concord Orchestra concert, “The Call of History,” features the winner of the Ehlers Young Artist Competition and a performance of Joyce Mekeel’s “Toward the Source” with the Spectrum Singers. Belmont resident Haig Hovsepian, 17, was recently named the winner of the Concord Orchestra Ehlers Young Artist Competition, and will perform Khachaturian’s “Violin Concerto in D Minor” in the orchestra’s winter concerts on Fri., Jan. 29 and Sat., Jan. 30.

Each year, the Concord Orchestra features a young performer selected by the annual young artist competition. The competition is open to musicians of high school age or younger who live in eastern Massachusetts. The winner is chosen by a panel of orchestra members and the music director. The winner also receives a cash prize from the Ehlers Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Hovsepian began playing the violin at age 4, studying with Narine Dolukhanian. He currently studies with Lynn Chang and Angelo Xieng Yu through the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, where he is also a member of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and performs chamber music with a string quartet.

He has won numerous awards and competitions, including the Gold Medal at the Classical Music Competition (2010, Canada) and the Young Promise International Competition (2010), and was a finalist in the Armenian Youth Talent Music Competition (2013). Hovsepian has also won numerous concerto competitions, including at the New England Conservatory (NEC), Feinberg-Kelley (Brockton), Waltham Philharmonic, and Belmont High School, and was a finalist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) concerto competition.

For many years, Hovsepian has been an active performer at various community and charity events. He has performed at the annual Belmont Cable Telethon to help raise funds for the local food pantry and he took part in a production to benefit the Joslin Diabetes Center. He has also performed in the “Our Young Stars” and “Music for Life” recitals benefitting Boston Children’s Hospital and the schools and orphanages destroyed by the earthquake in Armenia.

In addition to violin, Haig Hovsepian is an avid saxophone player. He is the lead saxophone in Belmont High School’s award-winning Jazz Collective and the Wind Ensemble.

The two runners up in the competition, both pianists, will give pre-concert recitals at 7:15 p.m. each evening. Amir Siraj of Brookline will perform works by Beethoven, Chopin, and Stravinsky on Friday evening; Katherine Liu of Wellesley will perform works by Chopin and Liszt on Saturday evening.

In addition to fine performances by these talented young artists, the Concord Orchestra will perform works by Joyce Mekeel and George Frederick Handel with the Spectrum Singers, John Erhlich, music director. This highly regarded chorus performs music from all musical periods and has recently collaborated with Emmanuel Music, the Indian Hill Symphony Orchestra, and the Cantata Singers.

Joyce Mekeel’s “Toward the Source” for orchestra and chorus was commissioned by the Concord Bicentennial Committee and was premiered by the Concord Orchestra and the Concord-Carlisle High School Concert Choir for the April Patriots’ Day celebration in 1975. Mekeel did extensive research to complete her assignment to interpret “Concord, its rivers, and its search for values.” The piece relates the town’s history from 1635 to the time of the transcendentalists. The chorus recites Indian place names, sites on the river, Biblical quotes, tombstone inscriptions, and the name of every colonial fighter at the North Bridge the day of “the shot heard ‘round the world.” It concludes with a quote from the hymn that Ives used as the basis of the “Concord Sonata,” a work inspired by the transcendentalists.

Other works on the program are “From the Censer” from Handel’s oratorio “Solomon” and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, “Reformation.”

Both performances will begin at 8 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at 51 Walden St., Concord. Single tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for senior citizens, and $10 for students. For tickets and information, visit www.concordorchestra.com or call (978) 369-4967.