Komitas - Marc Sinan

Komitas
Komitas
Touring project ����
Marc Sinan Company (Berlin) with guest performances
by Hasmik Harutyunyan & Araïk Bartikian
Music by Komitas Vardapet, Vache Sharafyan, Marc Sinan
for Soprano, Guitar, Duduk, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Trombone, Percussion and Video
A Production by the Marc Sinan Company & YMUSIC, Berlin
in cooperation with Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, commissioned by Schwäbisches
Bildungszentrum Kloster Irsee �Festival TONSPUREN�
Komitas
Komitas
The ensemble is drawn from various walks of
life and includes prominent guests from Armenia
and Turkey:
Artistic direction & guitar – Marc Sinan
Duduk – Araïk Bartikian
Soprano – Hasmik Harutyunyan
Clarinet – Oğuz Büyükberber
Percussion – Daniel Eichholz
Flute – Sascha Friedl
Trombone – Johannes Lauer
Violin – Ayumi Paul
Dates:
November 13th 2015, 8:30 PM
Şişli Belediyesi Kent Kültür Merkezi
Halaskargazi Caddesi str. 168
Istanbul/Turkey
November 15th 2015, 7:00 PM
Komitas Chamber Music Hall
Isahakyan str. 1
Yerevan / Armenia
Komitas
The German-Turkish-Armenian guitarist and composer Marc Sinan presents excerpts of his new project
“Komitas” alongside the premiere of his commission of Vache Sharafyan’s “Dialogues with Komitas”
on a tour to Istanbul and Yerevan in autumn 2015. Featuring some of the finest internationally acclaimed
Armenian and Turkish musicians, “Komitas” uses the power of music to reconcile the victims of the
Armenian genocide.
Sinan’s own Armenian grandmother is a survivor of 1915. She was raised as an orphan on the Black
Sea coast by a Turkish family who was unable to accept the expulsion of their Armenian neighbours.
Now her grandchild reflects on her fate in his contemporary compositions linked to and based on
original compositions by the great Komitas Vardapet. Vache Sharafyan developed his own “Dialogues”
in a similar way, reflecting the personal history of Komitas in his own compositions and connecting them
with refined arrangements of some of his favourite Komitas Songs.
The tour is dedicated to the “lost voice” of Komitas Vardapet, who has become a symbol for the
neglected suffering of the Armenian people. The moving and vivid quality of his original pieces and historic
recordings strike a stark contrast to the sadness of the thematic backdrop.
“Komitas” is a contemporary musical project which is presented by German, Turkish and Armenian
artists who stand hand in hand. Their common aim is to use the power of music to rise above the horror.
Komitas
Artist Bios
Komitas
Araïk Bartikian – Yerevan/Paris (Duduk)
Photo: La Clique Producitions
Araïk Bartikian was born in 1962 in Gavar, Armenia. His grandfather, Ousta Haïrik,
was a master from the Sevan area, an accomplished player on the duduk, the
sering and the clarinet. His father, Serioja, held the drone when his grandfather played.
At the age sixteen his grandfather took him to see the grand master Djivan Gasparian,
who lived in the same district as them. “You played well”, he said, “but you will have
to learn the bases all over again”. In the beginning, in order to make the young man’s
lips suppler, he held the instrument whilst Araïk blew into it.
This set the pattern for a long apprenticeship that was to continue over the years,
since Araïk remained with this one teacher. In 1982, he won a place in the Komitas
Conservatory in Yerevan whose principal was Ghazaros Sarian.
Araïk Bartikian received a complete classical training there in 1987, won his
“grand prix” with his performance of a piece by Komitas for harp and duduk.
For the Kiev Festival in 1991, Avet Terterian chose him to play his Symphony N°3
for orchestra, duduk and zurna, first performed with Djivan Gasparian in 1975.
Since then, Araïk has performed the work several times at concerts or for recordings,
and has also worked with other contemporary composers. He has played under the
baton of Mourad Annamamedov John Carewe, Hans Leenders, Diego Masson, Pierre
Dominique Ponnelle, Pascal Rophé, Alexander Slatowski, Volodimir Sirenko, etc.
During the last ten years, Araïk performed several times with different ensembles such as Musicatreize, The Gorgian Polyphonic Banquet (Ensemble Anchiskhati
and G. Mouradian) and Trio Chemirani.
Komitas
Oğuz Büyükberber – Amsterdam, Netherlands (Clarinet)
Oğuz Büyükberber can undoubtedly be described as an exceptional talent. Originally
from Turkey and living in the Netherlands, the clarinetist felt already in his early youth
a desire to express himself through music and to convey the energy produced by it
to his audience. Oğuz studied at various conservatories in the Netherlands and Turkey.
His music has appeared on more than 30 recordings. In addition to numerous
appearances and performances at jazz festivals around the world, he is also the recipient of many prestigious music awards such as the “Carte Blanche“ which he received
in Amsterdam in 2012.
His play with the clarinet is based on a particular form of interpretation, which
alternates between contemporary Turkish music and jazz elements. This is also the
main focus of his work: Oguz loves improvisation and the continuous evelopment of
his honest, musical language.
Photo: Graz Diez
Komitas
Daniel Eichholz – Berlin (Percussion)
Daniel Eichholz studied classical Percussion in Hamburg an at the Hochschule für
Musik “Hanns Eisler“, Berlin and graduated with honors. He is member of the
Zafraan Ensemble for contemporary music, which is performing worldwide and well
known by its collaboratories with composers such as Samir Odeh Tamimi, Hector
Parra or Ari Benjamin Meyers. Daniel is also playing drums in the Pop/Rock Szene
and has been performing with bands like Tocotronic, Phoenix, 2raumwohnung
and The Baseballs. He is frequently on stage with Berlin Philharmonic, the Symphony
orchestra of Bayerischer Rundfunk, the NDR Symphony orchestra Hamburg and
many others. He is a member of Chinese legend Li Biao’s Percussion Group with the
percussionists of the Berlin Philharmonic. Since 2012 he is teaching at “Hanns
Eisler“-college of music, Berlin.
Komitas
Sascha Friedl – Berlin (Flute, Bass flute)
Photo: Graz Diez
Sascha Friedl is most palpable on stage. There he runs in top form. Only recently
with a sensational 5.40 metre long subcontrabass flute during Marc Sinan’s musical
theatre project Dede Korkut. His play with the flute is characterized by a strong
physicality. He spares no risk; false vanity is unknown to him. The label “true musicians” receives a whole new meaning with Sascha Friedl – he is playing the flute
neck and crop.
Friedl studied flute in Munich and Frankfurt am Main. Already during his
studies he was appointed the youngest lecturer at the University of Augsburg.
During his one-year traineeship at the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
(Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Station), he worked with many great
conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Sanderling and Semyon
Bychkov. His intense involvement with contemporary music is particularly evident in
the establishment of Baader 66 – the autonomous improvisation ensemble of the
Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, which he created with seven other musicians. In addition to his musical work, he also participates in his own projects as singer and
speaker.
Komitas
Hasmik Harutyunyan – Yerevan, Armenia (Soprano)
Hasmik Harutyunyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. She is one of Armenia’s best
known folk singers, and specializes in traditional Armenian songs and dances.
Hasmik is soloist for Yerevan’s Shoghaken Folk Ensemble, and has recorded
several CDs for Traditional Crossroads of New York and Face Music of Switzerland.
She has performed in concerts around the world, presenting Armenian folk songs and
dances in noted universities and concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center,
the Calouste Gulbenkian Concert Hall in Lisbon, Portugal, and Theatre De La Ville in
Paris, France.
Her CD “Armenian Lullabies” was recognized by the New York Times as
the best Armenian recording worldwide in 2004. Hasmik is Meritorious Artist of the
Republic of Armenia.
Photo: Tomek Wierzbowski
Komitas
Johannes Lauer – Berlin (Trombone)
According to the press, Johannes Lauer from Tübingen is “a musician, characterized
by his deep recognition and conceivability of musical statements”, “meticulously
working sound architect”, “collector of ideas and progressive thinker,” and “polyglot
storyteller”. So it reads in his short biography. And this is no accident: Born and
raised in Florence and Ravensburg, studies in Berlin and Lucerne, residencies in
New York and Mali – he could collect some ideas and polyglot stories.
How exactly this translates into audible experience can be seen in various
combinations. The trombonist Lauer plays in different bands and musical formations
such as the trio Westergaard/Lawson/Smith or bands with evocative titles such as
“Morf ”, “Lauer Large” or the “Jazz Collective Berlin”, an association of musicians who
organize a festival twice a year.
Photo: Shlomino Fotografie
Komitas
Ayumi Paul – Berlin (Violin)
Photo: Vanessa Frank
The violin sounds of Ayumi Paul have a very special and impressive musical force.
The German-Japanese artist was born in 1980 and has from a very early age onwards
performed on various international stages. She played in the Barbican Hall in
London, the Suntory Hall of Tokyo or in the MAXXI Museum in Rome. In her work,
she is strongly devoted to the solo violin and together with visual artists she
develops her own performance and concert formats. She deals in particular with the
improvisation and exploration of extended playing techniques. Her performance
is accompanied by a constant search for authenticity with which she tries to make the
unspeakable and inaudible audible.
Komitas
Photo: Maxim Novikov
Vache Sharafyan – Yerevan, Armenia (Composer)
Being one of Armenia’s most excellent and best known contemporary composers with
a high international recognition, Vache Sharafyan is the author of more than eighty
compositions including symphonic works, chamber music, choral and vocal music,
among them the opera “King Abgar”, and the ballet “Second Moon”. Sharafyan’s music
is widely performed in his native country but also in the most prestigious international concert halls in the US, Israel, Russia, Canada, Ukraine, Georgia, Thailand,
Lebanon, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico and all over Europe.
Praised as “stark, mysterious and ultimately majestic” by The New York Times,
“complex, deliberate, ultimately captivating” by Boston Globe, “ingenious kaleidoscope
of iridescent timbres…” by The Strad, the works of Sharafyan were commissioned
and performed by outstanding musicians such as Yo Yo Ma and “Silk Road Ensemble”,
Yuri Bashmet and the “Soloists of Moscow”, Anne Akiko Meyers, The Hilliard
Ensemble, Boston Moderen Orchestra Project and Gil Rose, Suren Bagratuni, Mario
Brunello, Movses Pogossian, George Pehlivanian, and many others.
Vache Sharafyan was born in 1966 in Yerevan (Armenia). He is a graduate
of the Conservatory of Yerevan. In 1992 he obtained a doctorate in composition in the
class of Professor Edvard Mirzoyan. From 1992 to 1996 he taught at the Armenian
Theological Seminar in Jerusalem. During this time he also wrote and published his
book on sacred hymns for the Church “Holy Sepulchre” in Jerusalem.
Komitas
Marc Sinan – Berlin (Guitarist & Composer)
Photo: Graz Diez
Marc Sinan is a guitarist and composer. He has made guest appearances at many
renowned festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Istanbul
Festival, the Istanbul Jazz Festival, the Enjoy Jazz Festival, the Tonlagen Festival, the
MaerzMusik Festival at the Berliner Festspiele and at the Handel Festspiele.
In addition to international solo appearances and chamber music projects with
partners such as the Julia Hülsmann Trio, Jörg Widmann, the Turkish percussionist
Burhan Öcal and the Iranian Kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, Marc Sinan has also
performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
and the Georgian Chamber Orchestra.
With his own ensemble, the Marc Sinan Company, he has since gone on
to produce highly acclaimed projects within a contemporary, intercultural and multimedia context.
His project “Hasretim – Journey to Anatolia”, which had its premiere
in October 2010, was awarded the “Welthorizont” prize by the German UNESCO
Commission and has been released on ECM label.
In 2014 Marc Sinan presented his comprehensive docufictional music theatre
“Dede Korkut – The story of Tepegöz” for orchestra, vocals, movement and
video. “Dede Korkut” marked the continuation of his collaboration with the Dresdner
Sinfoniker and premiered in February 2014 at the Festspielhaus Hellerau and the
Maxim Gorki Theater to vast critical acclaim. In 2015 he has mostly dedicated himself
to projects commemorating the Armenian genocide. This includes his own musical
theatre “Komitas” which was commissioned by the Tonspuren Festival at Kloster Irsee
and also presented at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki theatre as well as commissions from
Vache Sharafyan and Helmut Oehring, who have written large scale chamber music
and orchestral works in the context of the centennial featuring Sinan as a soloist.
Komitas
Komitas
Commissioned by:
Schwäbisches
Tagungs- und Bildungszentrum
Eine Einrichtung
des Bezirks Schwaben
Partners:
Contact
Marc Sinan Company/ YMUSIC
Josephine Heide
Choriner Str. 56
10435 Berlin
Germany
Phone +49 (0)30/98 60 83 89 19
jh@ ymusic.de
ww w.marcsinan.com
Photos: Miriam Baute, Graz Diez, Filip Zorzor