The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Armenian Music Program featured a world premiere of Serenade with a Dandelion on March 4, 2024 at Lani Hall. Hailed as a “game changer,” “a five-star recording,” and a “treasure trove of fine and compelling music,” Serenade with a Dandelion is among the most ambitious Armenian music recording projects ever completed. Conceived as a continuation of the ongoing recordings of Armenian music in the Modulation Necklace Series, the new CD features music by legends Komitas Vardapet and modern-day master Tigran Mansurian, as well as cutting-edge new composers. Spanning acentury of music, this is “a powerful and beautiful testament to Armenia’s rich musical legacy.”

Featured performers included violinists Varty Manouelian, Andrew McIntosh, Kristapor Najarian and Movses Pogossian, violist Che-Yen Chen, cellist Coleman Itzkoff, pianist Steen Vanhauwaert, saxophonist Jan Berry Baker, UCLA’s VEM String Quartet, and composer Artur Akshelyan (visiting from Armenia).

The CD is available on Amazon.

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.

Conceived jointly by violinist Movses Pogossian and violist Kim Kashkashian on the occasion of Tigran Mansurian’s 80th birthday, the Con anima project brings together a dedicated cast of players to perform the Armenian composer’s chamber music. The emphasis is on newer pieces – only the Third String Quartet dates from the 20th century – but there is a timeless quality to Mansurian’s work, all of which resounds with the spirit of his homeland. “His works are full of signifiers that come from Armenian ornaments, paintings or stones, “ writes Elena Dubinets in the CD notes. “His music itself feels as if it was carved out of stone.” Sonata da Chiesa is dedicated to the memory of priest-composer-folklorist Komitas, an enduring inspiration for Mansurian. Agnus Dei is influenced by Armenian sacred music, and Die Tänzerin is based upon an Armenian folk dance.

Other featured artists include Varty Manouelian (violin), Boris Allakhverdyan (clarinet), Michael Kaufman (violoncello), Steven Vanhauwaert (piano), Tatevik Mokatsian (piano), Teng Li (viola), and Karen Ouzounian (violoncello). 

Con Anima is available on Amazon and Apple Music.  

Critical praise of The Call Within:

Jazz Times

“‘Old Maps,’ featuring the Varduhi Art School Children’s Choir, is appropriately divine in nature, a mélange of pacifying notes and voices floating just out of reach.”

Jazz Trail

“His creative perspective is deeply informed by the culture of his native Armenia and the ten originals on his fourth Nonesuch release use music (especially the drum) differently than most.”

Stream the album here.

Critical praise of Nocturnes / Invocation:

Fanfare

“This is one of the most gratifying discs of new music that I have come across in a long time. Krouse is enough in tune with tradition… At the same time, his voice is distinctive and fresh—he does not sound like anyone else. The recorded sound is well balanced and natural, and the composer’s notes are very helpful.”

David’s Review Corner

“For those seeking new music linking with the tonality of the 20th century, the composer, Ian Krouse, will prove very appealing with Nocturnes and Invocation.”

The CD is available on Amazon.

Critical praise of Armenian Requiem:

Gramophone

“Ian Krouse’s powerful Armenian Requiem, commissioned by Vatsche Barsoumian’s Lark Music Society, draws on traditional liturgical chant and poetry to make a powerful case for redemption through music.”

Massis Post

“Celebrated Composer Ian Krouse Dedicates his Latest Work to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide”

Ignatius Press

“Krouse seems to have picked up the violin where Samuel Barber set it down. His . . . is passionate music in which the thirst for beauty is intense.”

GIA Publications

“Krouse’s music hearkens to a distant and a recent past from the Old World and New World, respectively, melding music of the vernacular and cultivated traditions. [His] idealization of the life and death experience is the epitome of a “totalistic” approach to composition; it bespeaks the essence of humanity.”

The CD is available on Naxos.