Isabel Bayrakdarian plans a triumphant Fresno return for a special Keyboard concert. You can win a pair of tickets to Friday’s event.
By A.N. Patterson
For Isabel Bayrakdarian, the most profound part of her upcoming concert at St. Paul Armenian Church will be her connection with her ancestors and with the audience.
“I have a picture of me with my great grandmother, who was part of the mass deportation and survived the genocide,” said Bayrakdarian. “At one point, I looked at the photo and thought ‘Oh my gosh, she was me. She was also an 8 month old on her great grandmother’s lap. What did she sing? What was she like, since we were both named the same? What songs did she sing as a child? Some of them are songs she sang to her children, which got passed on to me. All of this immediate chain to the past was created only through song.”
Bayrakdarian is the first ever Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition winner. She won first prize at the 2000 Operalia International Opera Competition and has been nominated for a Grammy. The soprano will be performing the songs, prayers, and lullabies of Armenia at 7:30 pm on Friday, Oct. 30.
[ If you are a member of The Munro Review, you can win a pair of tickets to the event. To enter, leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Deadline is 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30.]
Philip Lorenz International Keyboard Concerts and the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program will be co-sponsoring the concert.
The concert will feature visual artist Kevork Mourad, harpist Ellie Choate, flutist Rayo Furuta, and duduk player Mher Mnatsakanyan. Mourad will be drawing in real time alongside the music performed, creating a dialogue with Bayrakdarian between sound and image.
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Some of the songs have unfortunately been forgotten with time, but Bayrakdarian hopes that by singing these songs now, the new generation will begin to sing them. One of the most important parts of life, for Bayrakdarian, is this continuation of identity and history through their talents and purpose.
St. Paul Armenian Church will also be a complement to the concert, because Bayrakdarian is very familiar with it as a member of the choir.
“St. Paul’s acoustics aren’t too wet, it’s crisp enough for you to hear the lyrics and distinguish between the songs’ words, enough that it allows for the blossoming of sound,” Bayrakdarian said.
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Because of how personal the concert is, Bayrakdarian emphasized that she wants the audience to be able to be immersed in and identify with the beauty of music’s interpersonal nature.
“I want everybody to be transformed by the music,” Bakyradarian said. “It is my hope that you see the connection, the human connection in all of this. You’re not just observing, you are experiencing.”
