Armenian Night at the Pops to Mark Armenia’s Centennial Anniversary with New Orchestration of ‘Sardarabad’

BOSTON—The Friends of Armenian Culture Society will present the 67^th annual Armenian Night at the Pops at Boston’s historic Symphony Hall on Saturday, June 9 at 8:00 PM.  The evening will feature the Belmont native violinist Haig Hovsepian as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto under the direction of Keith Lockhart. Also on the program will be Edgar Hovhannisyan’s “Sardarabad” in a newly arranged orchestration by conductor-composer Ruben Asatryan, to mark the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Armenia.

Haig Hovsepian is a rising sophomore at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He started his violin studies at age 4 with Narine Dolukhanian, then Mark Lakirovich and Anna Korsunsky. After joining the New England Conservatory Prep Department in 2013 he studied with Jason Horowitz, Kyoko Horowitz, Sam Ou, Daniel Getz, Lynn Chang, and Angelo Xiang Yu, and performed in Master classes with Tony Woodcock (former NEC President) and David Coucheron (Concertmaster of Atlanta Symphony).  He was the recipient of the Alice and Violet Ohanasian/Friends of the Armenian Culture Society scholarship at NEC.

At age 11, Haig received his first award at the MMTA competition, followed by a Gold Medal at the “Classival” International Competition (Canada), 2nd prize at the “Young Promise” International Competition (Mass.), and the “Armenian Youth Talent Competition” (N.Y.).

In 2015 and 2016 Haig won a series of concerto competitions including the NEC, the Concord Orchestra,

Brockton Symphony, Waltham Philharmonic, and Belmont High School Orchestra.  He also appeared as a soloist with the Nashua Chamber Orchestra. During the 2016-2017 academic year he received the Max Reger Ambassador Award, earned the title of laureate at the Renaissance International Competition (Gyumri, Armenia), and became a winner of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition.

In addition to the Armenian segment, the Boston Pops will present Dance to the Movies where top choreographers bring to life classic movie dances of yesterday, starring the Boston Pops, Dancing Celebrity Pros, “So You Think You Can Dance” top finalists, and singing stars from “American Idol” and “The Voice.” The concert will include new interpretations of memorable moments from movies like “Grease,” “Chicago,” “Singin’ In the Rain,” and “Moulin Rouge.” Lesley Ann Warren, legendary film and television actress, will join the cast of dancers.

Tickets for this concert are available from www.FACSBoston.org.