Mother and Daughter Perform Komitas in Boston

Pianist and instructor, Karine Bagdasarian, and her daughter, Anna Mikaelian, a master’s degree candidate in piano performance at Boston University, were the featured performers recently at a private musicale evening in Boston’s Harbor Towers residence.

The event was held on April 23 and was attended by approximately 40 guests; the majority of those guests had not previously heard Bagdasarian or Mikaelian perform, nor some of the music, which included Komitas and Khachaturian. Following a cocktail reception with some background music, event co-chair Blanca Batteau Fincham introduced the performers for the formal recital.

Bagdasarian charmed all with her explanations of the works by Liszt, Brahms, and Chopin. The conclusion of each piece was followed by great applause and shouts of “brava” by an audience not unaccustomed to attending performances in major concert halls. Anna Mikaelian then performed the suite of Komitas dances followed by Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 Op. 58 in B Minor. The guests were particularly intrigued by the beauty of the Komitas music.

Mother and daughter then presented the attendees with a surprise of a finale piece performed by four hands of Khachaturian’s “Masquerade Waltz.” The guests rose to their feet and their applause was silenced by Bagdasarian returning to the piano and delighting the audience with an encore of Gershwin.

Everyone wanted to hear more and was pleased to learn that Mikaelian was to perform a concert on May 6 at Boston University.