Armenian

Music Program

Contact Us
Contact Us
Contact Us
Armenian Music Program UCLA Afternoon Dance workshop
AMP Community Outreach Event
AMP Community Outreach Event
Celebrating Armenian
Music, Arts, and Culture

The Armenian Music Program at UCLA is an academic program dedicated to the study and performance of Armenian music. It offers public concerts, workshops, community outreach events, undergraduate courses on Armenian music and dance, and fellowships for UCLA students to study and perform the diverse styles and repertoires of Armenian music.

About Us

Melissa Bilal
The Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture; Director of Armenian Music Program
Movses Pogossian
Distinguished Professor of Violin; Founder and Advisor, Armenian Music Program - Music Performance
Mary Sekayan
Coordinator of Armenian Music Program
Armen Adamian
Instructor of Armenian Woodwinds; Ph.D. Student in Ethnomusicology
Natalie Kamajian
Instructor of Beginning Armenian Dance; Ph.D. Student in Culture and Performance
Apr 17 Wed
7:30pm
Free
classical, world-music
Intersections: Armenian Classical Composers
Co-presented by the Hammer Museum at UCLA. Celebrate the intersections of Armenian musical heritage with exquisite performances of works by Armenian classical composers in Western and Ottoman music traditions. The concert will feature an exciting lineup of musicians including Antranig Kzirian, known for his innovative style of oud interpretation, and the UCLA VEM Ensemble under
Hammer Museum
Jun 1 Sat
11:00am
Free
world-music
Fourth Annual Day of Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture
Join us for the Fourth Annual Day of Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture presented by the Armenian Music Program. The Armenian Music Program at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music provides an in-depth exploration of Armenia’s rich musical heritage, with a focus on its classical traditions. A hallmark of the school’s innovative leadership in
Schoenberg Music Building

Recent Events

Serenade with a Dandelion: 4 CD-Set Album Launch Concert
Celebration of Aram Khachaturian's 120th Birth Anniversary

Lani Hall | November 17, 2023

Revisit the Aram Khachaturian concert

Resonances: Music of Armenia
Third Annual Day of Armenian Music at UCLA

Schoenberg Hall and Courtyard | May 2023

MEET JAHAN RAYMOND:<br />
<br />
2023 Winner of Annual Tigran Mansurian Composition Competition
MEET JAHAN RAYMOND:

2023 Winner of Annual Tigran Mansurian Composition Competition
Jahan Raymond, 21, picked up piano at the age of 7 and was composing original music by age 8. He took to music quickly from there, and at 11, was commissioned to compose and perform original piano works at charity galas in Hong Kong for Make A Wish and Women Helping Women. Around the same time, he performed with Grammy-winning jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan and with Persian pop star Andy Madidian at L.A.’s Greek Theater.
Jahan went on to study composition and piano with a large variety of private instructors over the course of the next decade – among them, David Bowie’s former keyboardist Mike Garson, John Perry, Edward Francis, Roza Yoder and UCLA Professors Ian Krouse, Kay Rhie, David Lefkowitz and David Kaplan.
He was a three-time piano concerto soloist with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, who also performed his original orchestral piece, Fete Macabre. Additional compositional achievements include being named finalist in the National Young Composers Challenge twice, and spending a year as a fellow of the LA Phil’s Composer’s Fellowship Program. He was then accepted into the UCLA composition program at the age of 16.
More recently, Jahan branched out into songwriting and music production, and has collaborated with a variety of independent artists and hip-hop producers. He loves all types of music, and will gladly jam or performing in any situation imaginable. His piece “Montage” for string trio, was selected as the winning submission for the Annual Tigran Mansurian Composition Competition. The UCLA VEM Ensemble will record this work at the Ostin Recording Studio during the 2023 school year.
Our Recordings
Our Recordings

Explore all recordings here

Following its lauded recent performances in Yerevan, Armenia, the UCLA VEM Ensemble is featured in the newly released CD of Armenian Music, “Modulation Necklace,” by the Naxos-distributed label, New Focus Recordings. Celebrating the aesthetic diversity of the post-Soviet era Armenian music, the CD highlights a selection of works from distinguished contemporary Armenian composers Artur Avanesov, Ashot Zohrabyan, Michel Petrossian, and Artashes and Ashot Kartalyan. Along with the VEM Ensemble, Modulation Necklace also features internationally renowned musicians Scott St. John, Antonio Lysy, Varty Manouelian, Movses Pogossian, Katisse Buckingham, Dustin Donahue, as well as UCLA alumni Charles Tyler and Niall Ferguson.

Dan Lippel, President of New Focus Recordings, praised the album. “Violinist Movses Pogossian has assembled this illuminating collection of contemporary music from Armenia…revealing a vibrant repertoire whose aesthetics are as outward-looking as they are grounded in their reverence of centuries-old culture.” Highlighting the best of contemporary Armenian Composers, “Modulation Necklace” is a true celebration of Armenian music as an art form and a testament to the rich history and heritage which it tributes. The UCLA VEM ensemble’s participation in the album is a significant achievement, which upholds the noble mission of the Armenian Music Program.

Proceeds of this CD will benefit the UCLA Armenian Music Program.
The CD is available on Amazon and Apple Music.

Newsletter: Modulation Necklace

Our Media & Press Appearances

More News
More News
More News
Third Annual Day of Armenian Music to Feature Noted Armenian Composer, Artur Avanesov
In 2013, the Armenian Music Program was launched at UCLA with a single ensemble-in-residence, the string quartet VEM. The ensemble performed on campus and conducted a few outreach programs in what were admittedly modest beginnings. A lot has changed in ten years.  When the program hosts its third-annual Day of Armenian Music on May 26
VEM Ensemble Sets out on 2023 Eastern U.S. Tour
The VEM Ensemble of the Armenian Music Program at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is coming to Detroit, Boston and Montreal as part of a tour sponsored by the Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) of the United States and Canada, with full concerts on, respectively, May 9, 11 and 13, held with local co-sponsoring
VEM Ensemble's International Tour
The VEM Ensemble has just completed its week-long tour of Armenia. Next up is “Resonances: The Music of Armenia” at the Hammer Museum on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. The VEM Ensemble of the UCLA Armenian Music Program has just returned from its March 2023 tour of Armenia. The tour included ten workshops and outreach
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