Armenian National Chorus: Live at New York Town Hall, April 24, 1949
Written By Harout Arakelian
Venture with us back to 1949 New York City. On April 24, 1949, the Armenian National Chorus, directed by Mihran Toumadjan, produced a remarkable concert at the Town Hall venue. Toumadjan was a conductor, song and lore collector, and student of Gomidas Vartabed.
The Armenian National Chorus began in the mid-1920s under the leadership of Grikor M. Suni; one of its earliest performances was held on May 18, 1924, at Jordan Hall in New York City. The chorus was heard many times on the radio airwaves as well as holding highly regarded concerts. Leadership shifted in the late 1930s from Suni to Harout Mehrab. During the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, the Armenian National Chorus won first prize at the Chicagoland Music Festival. By 1940, Florence Der Mateosian became the director of the chorus (after her marriage in 1940 she would use her married last name of Mardirosian). By the mid-to-late 1940s, the directorship of the Chorus was passed to Mihran Toumadjan. Under his leadership, the Chorus conducted a series of well-received concerts. Of special note is the “Jubilee Concert In Honor of Parsegh Ganatchian,” held on June 6, 1948, at Town Hall in New York City. Both Ganatchian and Toumadjan held the significant place in history of being two of the five pupils of Komitas Vartabed. The following year, Toumadjan began work on a historically remarkable presentation.
Although the concert in 1949 took place on April 24th, which is recognized as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, there was no mention or acknowledgment during the event to link it to the tragic events of 1915, instead, the event was billed as a benefit for the Armenian Cultural Foundation in Boston. The program was a celebration of Armenian composers, with performances of works by Gomidas Vartabed, Parsegh Ganatchian, Grikor Suni, Kourken Alemshah, Vartan Sarxian, Ashot Satian, Hampartzoum Berberian and Alan Hovhaness, with Hovhaness and tenor Hagop Asadourian as featured performers.
A review of the concert was written by the former director of the chorus, Florence Mardirosian, and published in the Hairenik Weekly. Under the headline “The NY Armenian National Chorus Concert at Town Hall,” her article reads:
“The chorus sang Komitas Vartabed’s songs arranged in groups... These were interspersed with numerous solos by Anne Garoogian, Armen Babamian, Onnik Dinkjian, George Marangozian and Barkev Vartanyan. Paresgh Ganatchian’s “Nanor” (A Pilgrimage), a new number to most listeners brought the program to a close.
These were performed with ease and proper amount of enthusiasm to convey the fevered visions of the works.
With all of its technical shortcomings, the concert was still heartwarming and moving to the sizable and receptive audience. Mr. Toumadjan must be commended for his untiring effort in the furtherance of our Armenian song, especially under circumstances which tend to hamper his progress rather than assist it. Much credit should also be given to him for his very concise and excellent explanatory program notes which proved very helpful to the listener for his comprehension of the understanding of the music.”
The Armenian Museum of America’s Sound Archive holds a copy of the live recording from the concert. Despite technological issues — songs may be cut short due to space limitations on the discs, such as Grigor Suni’s “Nenni Bala,” performed by Anne Garoogian, which loses a few seconds between verses — the records offer a vivid glimpse of an important musical evening. To honor that night and those who participated, we have compiled selections from the concert in sequence with light restoration. We hope this treatment immerses you in the experience of being part of the Town Hall audience. The Sound Archive has previously profiled numerous artists who were a part of this significant concert; we have included in our compilation one piece of music for each of the featured performers or groups. The sequence of works and performers is:
“Akh Maral Jan” — Chorus with George Marangozian and Onnik Dinkjian
“Es Kisher” — Chorus
“Lusnage Sari Dagin” — George Marangozian
“Ightz” — Armen Babamian
“Serafina” — Alan Hovhaness
“Nenni Bala” — Anne Garoogian
“Horovel” — Chorus with Armen Babamian and Onnik Dinkjian
“Asdvadzadznin U Khachin” — Barkev Vartanian
“Garod (Mardigi Yerk)” — Hagop Asadourian
“Nanor” — Chorus
Portion of cover page from the program for the APril 24, 1949 concert of the Armenian National Chorus at New York City Town Hall.
A special thanks to the SJS Charitable Trust for their generous support of our work to digitize and share our collection of 78 rpm records.
